Afterward
by KitTales95
Summary: Post TR. Things are finally settling down and everyone feels safe. However when Kit discovers something life threatening to Chloe, Derek must face a life or death decision. Rated M for later chapters. Some characters may be OOC.
1. Mates

_**/AN: Hey everyone! I'm back and hopefully I'm staying a while! :) I've been through absolute HELL the last year and now I'm focusing on getting better and back in my writing game. I have finished almost all of the editing to the first four chapters. If you've already read it, GO BACK AND READ IT AGAIN! OTHERWISE NOTHING WILL MAKE SENSE! If this is your first time reading my story, then please by all means, continue reading! A couple things: I know the first couple of paragraphs are screwy. I'm currently living without Microsoft Word and it's driving me insane. I don't know how to fix it at this moment and it will bother me until I do. But as of right now, please just try to ignore it. I promise to get it fixed as soon as I can. PS. This chapter has been edited.**_

_**Disclaimer: I don't own it. I own Marlee, Mason, and Lucy... and future characters. :)/**_

_**Kit's POV**_

Kit looked in the rear view mirror of the van. The seats had been pushed down to make room for six teenage Genesis Two survivors, all of which were asleep. He returned his attention to the dark forested road in front of him.

Beside him sat a beautiful blonde haired woman around his age. Marlee. The only other adult in the group besides Derek who would turn eighteen in a week. They had found Marlee when they raided the Edison Group's base. She had been working as a doctor there for a while; held there against her will. When Kit offered a safe place to stay with their group, Marlee immediately accepted.

They had been on the run for the greater part of two years, changing homes every six months. Finally, he was sure that he had the perfect solution to their problem… at least for a little while.

He looked back to the rear view mirror. Derek and Chloe were sound asleep, tangled in each other's warmth. He knew there would be no way to keep the two apart. Both of them knew about the mate rule for werewolves. Kit also knew that Derek and Chloe wouldn't be official mates until they engaged in intercourse for the first time together… and wouldn't be long until then. He could feel it. He saw the way Derek looked at Chloe. He never let her out of his sight. They always slept in the same room. Derek was like Chloe's personal bodyguard. Kit just hoped Derek was smart enough to remember to be safe when both Derek and Chloe decided decided it was time to make their mateship official. The last thing they needed was a couple of pups running around. And almost always werewolf pregnancies always resulted in more than one pup. Derek was an exception; an experiment baby. Kit shook his head. Lord help them.

Next, Kit shifted his gaze to Simon. He was curled up in a ball, snoring away, not a care in the world. Tori was beside him, face contorted in an irritated scowl. Her body was turned toward Simon. They had both fallen asleep bickering, as usual.

In the very back, curled up next to each other were the two newest members of the group, Lucy and Mason. They were seventeen year old twins. Lucy was a psychic empath, with necromancer abilities. She could feel and bend other people's emotions and use necromancer abilities to talk to the dead. Although she hasn't quite mastered those yet. Her hair was a platinum blond and her eyes a deep vibrant blue. She had become quite close with Simon, which Mason didn't seem to like very much.

Mason was a werewolf as well. Unlike other werewolves, Mason and Derek tolerated each other more than any other male werewolf, which Derek himself, found odd.

"No Mr. Souza we don't carry pink, fuzzy bunny slippers…" Kit's gaze turned to Simon who had been talking in his sleep. About what, Mr. Bae could only guess.

And then just as Kit's attention went back to the road, something in the background caught his eye. A floating book, open in the back. "Liz put the book down. You don't want your noisy presence waking Chloe. Derek would have a fit." Kit said quietly, knowing Liz could hear him. Liz, knowing Mr. Bae couldn't hear her, said nothing. But put the book down anyway.

After another twenty minutes, Kit pulled into a long, winding road, the trees getting thicker and closer together. In another fifteen minutes, they would be at a large mansion, with enough rooms for everyone to have their own. Five bathrooms and a giant kitchen fit for a professional chef. It had a dining room out of _Batman _and a sitting room the size of four put together and the library looked as if it belonged in _Beauty and the Beast. _To add to it, there were about a dozen hidden rooms and passage ways. Lastly, the gardens were immaculate and wild, but exotic and wondrous at the same time.

Finally, after two days of nonstop traveling, Kit pulled up to the house and shut off the engine. "Wakey, wakey everybody. We're here." Kit said jumping out.

Derek was the first to awake. He stretched and growled a yawn. Finally, he looked over at Chloe, kissing her forehead. "We're home." He said as she stirred awake.

She kissed his lips as a response, but was the first to break away. "Lead the way." Chloe tried to sit up, only to gasp in pain and fall back down.

"Don't you dare, Chloe Saunders. Not with that bullet in your leg. I'll carry you." Derek replied, sitting up.

"I refuse to let you carry me anywhere, since you too have recently had a bullet in your leg, Derek Souza."

"Bullet? What Bullet? I hardly feel a thing." Derek said.

"That's because of the werewolf gene, Derek. You heal ten times faster than humans do. That's why I used my last pair of gloves to remove your bullet and not Chloe's. Now suck it up. If you put any weight on that leg, I'll have to strangle you." Marlee said, noticing the others were awake now as well. "Simon, Mason, help Derek to the house. Go through the front entry way, and head to your right and into the kitchen. Turn left and straight through to the sitting area. Set him on the couch. Tori, Lucy, same for Chloe." Marlee commanded.

Finally, everyone started moving. Kit gathering everyone's bags and things, and Marlee gathering her medical supplied, while the other kids went inside. Marlee immediately followed, rushing inside the house to check over injuries.

Marlee found all six teens in the sitting room where she told them to be. Chloe was over on a medium sized love seat, with Lucy and Tori beside her on either side. Derek was across from them on a long couch, Simon resting Derek's leg on his lap. Mason was sitting on the arm rest beside Simon. Derek was sitting up, leaning on the arm rest behind him.

"Chloe, how's that Valium holding up?" Marlee asked, noticing Chloe's face beginning to break out in a sweat and her breathing was coming in short shallow gasps.

"Wearing off…" came the short answer.

Derek kept his gaze focused on Chloe. "Derek, I'll take care of you later." Marlee said. Derek nodded. "Liz, go find me a pair of pliers. Tori, Lucy, towels." As everyone went off to do their jobs, Marlee rummaged in her supplies, bringing out a rubber mat and a bottle of peroxide and iodine. Finally, Lucy and Tori came back with about twelve towels.

"Good, good." Working quickly, Marlee took the rubber mat in one hand and Chloe's injured leg in the other, swiftly placing the mat under her leg. "Mason go into the kitchen and get Chloe a glass of water." Derek emitted a low, guttural growl that said, "Don't get any ideas.' Marlee glared at Derek. "Just giving everyone a chance to help. Don't get your tail in a know." She paused for half a moment before saying, "Dammit, where is Liz with those pliers?" As if by magic, pliers plopped into Marlee's lap.

"Liz, be nice." Chloe said softly.

Marlee rolled her eyes at Liz's antics, as Mason came back with a glass of water. Pulling a bottle of Valium from her supply box, Marlee took one out and had Tori lift Chloe's head and had Chloe take that Valium. "The meds will take half an hour to take effect, but if I get that bullet out now, we'll risk infection." Chloe nodded weakly as Kit walked into the room.

Grabbing a pair of scissors, Marlee cut away at Chloe's designer jeans. Tori was mortified. "Do you know how much those cost?" Tori screeched.

"Would you rather ruin a perfectly good pair of jeans or have your best friend die of gangrene?" Marlee snapped.

Tori shut up as the doctor continued cutting away at the material. Finally, Marlee cut away enough material to expose the wound on Chloe's upper thigh. Taking the peroxide bottle, Marlee poured about a quarter of the bottle's contents onto the wound, watching it fizz. Chloe clenched her fists and made a face.

Marlee ignored the gesture and continued, going for the bottle of iodine. She unscrewed the lid and used the brush hooked onto it, to coat the pliers in the surgical substance, as well as coating the area around the bullet wound.

Next, taking the pliers, Marlee entered the wound and clasped them around the bullet, pulling gently. Chloe screamed and bit her tongue. Derek jumped up only to be held back by Simon. "Shit." Marlee released the bullet and removed the pliers from the wound. The bullet hadn't moved.

"Everyone out. Except Liz." Derek glowered. "Out, Souza!" Derek limped angrily from the room and into the dining room with the others. Once everyone had vacated the room, she told Liz to hand her the surgical scissors from her medical box. Liz placed them firmly in her hand.

"Chloe, this is going to hurt a little." Coating the surgical scissors in iodine, Marlee carefully bent down to get a closer look at the wound. "Flashlight." Liz held a flashlight over Marlee's shoulder shining it on the bullet wound. Carefully, Marlee stuck the scissors in the wound. "Relax your leg Chloe or you're going to make this a whole lot more painful." Chloe nodded, her eyes squeezed shut, relaxing her leg as best she could. "Good job, Chloe. Now hold still." Marlee slowly clipped at muscle tissue around the bullet.

"DEREK!" Chloe's hand instinctively moved down towards her leg, fingering the gash. Derek shot into the room, hurrying to Chloe's side.

"Simon! Mason! We need help in here!" Simon and Mason stumbled into the room. "Simon, binding spell, quick!" Simon performed the spell as requested. Almost immediately everything from Chloe's neck down stopped squirming. "Derek, help me move her to the table." Derek did as he was told. "Simon, hold her left hand. Mason, her right. Derek, keep her calm." Everyone took their positions.

With everyone set, Marlee continued snipping around the bullet. Chloe bit back another scream, tears pouring down her face. "You're doing great, babe. Just a little longer." Derek whispered in her ear, brushing her soaked hair back, out of her eyes. He would be there for her just like she was for him when he changed.

Finally, with all of the muscle tissue out of the way, Marlee took a towel and wiped away any excess blood around the wound and on the table. Next, Marlee took the pliers and extracted the bullet from Chloe's leg. "Almost over baby girl." Derek said, kissing her forehead.

After, Marlee took a needle and sutures and began to sew up Chloe's muscle tissue and wound. Taking a sterile patch, and surgical tape and placed it over the sewn up wound. "Simon, take this cloth and wash it down with cold water and bring it back please." Marlee said, wiping her forehead with her sleeve. "Mason, you can go now. Thank you."

"You're welcome." Mason said as he left the room as Simon came back with the wet cloth handing it to Derek, who began wiping the sweat off of Chloe's face, moving to her left side.

"Simon go down in the basement and bring up a two by four and the old pair of crutches as well." With that, Marlee took the strips of jeans she had cut earlier and set them along in a row. Simon brought back the two by four and crutches. Luckily the two by four fit perfectly to Chloe's leg.

Lifting Chloe's leg, Marlee replaced the rubber mat with the two by four and fastened the jean strips and surgical tape securely and tightly to her leg. Chloe barely noticed, the Valium finally kicking in. "Derek, set her back on the couch and let me look at your wound. Derek propped himself up on the opposite couch ripping the bottom of his pants leg off himself.

The wound was almost healed up. Nothing left but a pink scar and a sore muscle. "Looks good. Why don't you take Chloe upstairs and rest. Your room is next to your brother's."

Derek nodded and took Chloe up to what would be their new room.

_**Derek's POV**_

This was the first time he had really seen the interior of the house. All of the other times, Derek had been too distracted to notice much of anything. Now, with Chloe half asleep in his arms, he was able to notice much more.

The front of the entry way was giant. When entering from the front door, you could see in front of you a staircase with a landing at the top where the stairs forked in two; one to the left, one to the right. From the front door, the entry way to the left lead to a gigantic dining room. The one to the right to the kitchen, where Derek had come from. In front of the stairs, was a long rug leaning to the front door. Beside the stair case, was a door which Derek guessed led to the basement. He would ask Simon later.

As Derek headed up the stairs, carrying Chloe bridal style in his arms, he noticed a very old looking grandfather clock on the landing. He stopped by it to sniff the air looking for Simon. Right. Heading up the right staircase, Derek immediately saw Simon with his door open. He stopped in front of Simon's door. He had his suitcase open on the floor. Simon himself was stretched out on the bed. "Don't you think you should unpack?" Derek asked.

Simon's gaze shifted from Derek's face to Chloe to his suitcase back to Derek. "Yeah probably, but after all the drama that's been going on tonight, I figured I'd just chill for now." Derek nodded in agreement. "So is Chloe gonna be okay?" Simon asked.

"She should be. The Valium's finally kicked in. She should be out until morning." Derek said.

"That's good. Now go get some sleep."

Derek rolled his eyes. "Night, Simon."

"Later, bro."

Derek entered the room next to Simon's. Definitely their's. Both of their suitcases were next to the dresser. There was a large king sized bed big enough for the two of them. There was also a connected bathroom complete with a sunken tub. Chloe would like that.

"Oh, hi, Derek!" Chloe was coming around now, breaking Derek from his thoughts. How he wished Marlee has something other than Valium to give Chloe for pain. Valium made Chloe… little, well, not herself. "Derek, your eyes look like a doggie's!" Chloe poked his nose and laughed.

"Yes, Chloe, I know." Derek set her on the bed.

"Oh! Should I search for doggie ears?" Chloe exclaimed.

Derek tousled his hair with both hands. "No dog ears. See?" They had been through this routine once before. Marlee has said to play along until it wore off. He took off his shirt, fully intending on heading to bed.

Chloe ogled at him as if she hadn't seem him half naked before. He stripped into his boxers and flipped off the light, climbing into bed. In the darkness, he could see Chloe pout, and then her eyes brightened. "Derek, I loves you _this _much!" Chloe stretched her arms out as wide as they could go.

Derek raised a brow, amusement in his eyes. "Is that so?"

Chloe nodded enthusiastically. "Mhm."

She rolled over so she was on top of him and kissed his lips. "Have I ever told you I thought were_men _were hot?" She asked, placing her hands on his sculpted, battle scarred chest.

"Many times." Came the simple, hesitant answer. He hoped this wasn't going where he thought it was going.

She leaned down towards his neck, kissing the soft skin behind his ear working her way down. "I really wish I could see what was underneath these restrictive things." Chloe complained. She trailed butterfly kisses down his chest to his abs, bringing her hands down to the rim of his boxers. In one swift motion, she removed them, revealing his manhood in all it's glory. His breathing hitched as it struggled for control of the situation.

'_No. Not tonight. Not like this.' _He thought. He refused. Not when her lust was fueled by medication. He wouldn't take advantage of her like that. His hardened manhood protested otherwise. Chloe unbuttoned her shirt, revealing a while lacy bra.

"No, Chloe." His voice came out as a hoarse whisper.

"No?" She ran her hand down his length. Derek's eyes snapped shut as he bit back a groan. "It doesn't seem like you want me to stop, Der-ek." Slowly, Chloe unclasped her bra, pert breasts spilling from under it.

In frustration, he flipped them over so he was on top, eye to eye. "Not tonight, Chloe." She kissed his neck, ignoring him. He bit his tongue, fighting back another groan, desperately fighting against the instinct to take her then and there. It pained him to do this. "Not. Now." He said, firmly.

"Why not?" Chloe pouted. "What's wrong with me? Are my boobs too small?"

Derek's eyes shone with amusement. "No. Nothing like that. They're perfect." He resisted the urge to take on in his mouth and continue their progress they'd made together. "_You're _perfect." He said. In fact, Chloe had grown two cup sizes in two years.

Derek saw relief flooding her eyes. "I want your first time to be special. Something you'll remember for the rest of your life. Not just a time when you were high as a kite and you let your lust consume you." He replied, having to use all of his self control to refuse himself a release.

"When?" Chloe searched his eyes, pleading, half sober from rejection.

"Soon. I promise. Now go to sleep, Chloe." He tossed her his shirt while he pulled up his boxers, all evidence of previous acts gone.

As he crawled in next to her, his leg brushed up against the make shift splint on her right leg. How she was able to move like that with that thing on, he had no idea. Ignoring it, he kissed her forehead. "Goodnight, Chloe. I love you." He said, wrapping his arms around her.

"Love you too." Chloe said, half asleep already.

x-x-x

_**Normal POV**_

Chloe woke that morning with a headache. "What happened?" She asked. Derek lay awake next to her.

"Do you want the short version or the hot, sexy, painful version?" Derek asked her, helping her sit up.

"Short please." Chloe felt her cheeks heat up as she rubbed her eyes. "And what's with the two by four strapped to my leg? And finally, where the hell are we?"

"Last night Marlee gave you another Valium and took the bullet out of your leg." Derek said.

"Yeah, I remember that part."

"She used the two by four as a makeshift splint so you didn't disrupt the healing muscle fibers by moving your leg. After the stitched dissolve, you should be able to move it." Derek explained. Chloe nodded in understanding.

"Next subject, this room is ours. In a house that is Marlee's, which we are free to roam anything, anywhere." Again, Chloe nodded. "To my favorite part, last night, under the apparently naughty influence of Marlee's medication," Derek's eyes shone brightly with amusement, "Chloe Saunders tried her hardest to seduce her boyfriend…"

Chloe looked horrified. "Oh god… please tell me…"

Derek's eyes softened. "We didn't do anything, I promise. I wouldn't let you."

"Oh my god, I'm so sorry. I can't believe I did that. Ugh, I feel slutty!" Chloe buried her face in her hands.

Derek took her hand. "Actually, Chloe, I thought it was kinda cute. You thought that I thought your boobs were too small." A smile played on Derek's lips.

"How is that funny?" Chloe's face was beat red.

"Because it is completely untrue. You're not a slut. And, I like your boobs." Derek had in fact felt her up in the past and knew every inch, every cure of Chloe's body and knew there was absolutely nothing wrong with her. Especially not her breasts. Derek wiped away a tear from her cheek with his thumb.

"You really like my boobs?" Chloe asked.

"Do you really need my approval to feel beautiful?" Derek asked, slightly appalled at how much Tori rubbed off on her. Chloe didn't say anything, just refocused her gaze on the floor.

Derek rolled his eyes. "Chloe Nichole Saunders, you are the most beautiful woman I have ever laid eyes on. I love you. Please cheer up?" Derek begged.

Chloe's stomach growled. "On one condition," Chloe said. Derek raised a brow. "Carry me to breakfast?"

"Of course," Derek broke into his suitcase and grabbed a pair of flannel pants and socks, pulling them on. Next, making sure Chloe was fully dressed in his over sized t-shirt and a pair of sweat pants.

"Oh, and I need to talk to you later. It's about the gas station fiasco."

Derek gave Chloe a look. "What about it?"

"Later, okay? I don't wanna put you in a bad mood."

"Chloe, if it's important, I need to know. You know I'll keep bugging you until you tell me. So out with it." Derek replied.

"There werewolf that tried to attack me… before he changed… Derek, I could've sworn it was you in front of me. He looked, just like you."

Derek was silent for a minute, running over the images of that night in his head. He never really got a good look at the guy's face. He was too concerned about the fact that he was trying to rape his mat. "I never saw his face, Chloe."

"So you don't believe me?"

"You saw what you saw, Chloe. I believe that. I'm not saying you were wrong. With everything the Edison Group has already done, nothing would surprise me anymore. I don't know, maybe they've sent a clone after us to confuse you or some crazy shit like that. At this point, anything is possible." Derek told her.

"Clones? Really?"

Derek shrugged. "It's the best I could come up with. I honestly doubt I have a twin. I was a test tube baby, remember?"

"I remember, Derek. It's just, the image bothered me." Derek lifted Chloe up in his arms, bridal style.

"I'd never hurt you, Chloe."

"I know." Chloe smiled up at him. "Come on, I'm hungry." Together, they headed down to the kitchen.

The house in the day time looked much different from the way it did at night. At night, the mansion looked as if it were a castle, shadows everywhere. In the day time, it was like an evil spell had been lifted and light shone through every window, making the house look wondrous and enchanted.

Finally, when Derek had reached the kitchen, he sat Chloe down in a chair. Tori and Mason were sitting on the other side talking, barely noticing Derek and Chloe.

Mason's hair was a dark, tousled mess as usual. He wore a black Slipknot t-shirt and a pair of faded jeans. Tori sat beside him, her hair pulled into a side pony tail. She wore a blue tank top with a cargo jacket that ended just above the end of her rib cage and a pair of blue daisy dukes.

Marlee sat on the counter wearing a navy blue blouse and a pair of snug fitting jeans. Her hair was worn in the short, layered fashion she usually wore it in. The only difference was that she had a full coffee mug in her hand. Marlee was talking to Kit who stood beside her.

"Morning Chloe. How's your leg feeling?" Marlee asked.

"Better. It's a little stiff and sore but other than that, it's fine." Chloe replied.

"Mind if I take a look at it after breakfast?"

"Not at all." Behind her, Derek grunted. All eyes turned to him. He paused, feeling eyes boring into his back.

"There's no food." He responded, much more antisocial now that he was surrounded by people.

Kit tossed him and Chloe a banana. "Marlee plans on going shopping after checking up on Chloe." Kit said, earning a glare from the shaman.

"Kit, you're a fucking crazy if you think I know how to grocery shop past canned foods and ramen noodles." A vein pulsed in Marlee's forehead.

"Everyone must learn sometime!" Kit exclaimed, a cheesy grin on his face.

"So where's Simon?" Chloe asked. At that moment a disheveled, shirtless Simon came into the room, collapsing into a seat beside Chloe.

"That's the last thing I wanted to see in the morning. My brother half dressed burned into my brain forever. Thanks. My life is ruined." Tori said.

"Glad I could be of service." Simon mumbled.

"Where's my sister?" Mason asked.

"Taking a shower, I guess. How would I know?" Simon replied.

"Because I know you and my sister are…" Mason paused.

"Dating and possibly having sex behind your back?" Simon countered.

Mason jumped up from his seat prepared to strangle Simon, when he was suddenly restrained by a strong pair of arms. "Mind if I speak to you outside?" Derek growled, so only Mason could hear.

Both followed each other to the front lawn. "Well let's take that as our queue to go check your leg." Marlee said, taking Chloe into the other room, Kit following close behind.

_**Derek's POV**_

"What do you want to talk to me about?" Mason asked, his hazel eyes blazing.

"You have no idea what's going on here do you?" I replied.

"Enlighten me."

"You're a young werewolf. I understand that. I've been there. You haven't completed the change and your hormones are raging more than a regular teenager's." I paused, letting this sink in. Surprisingly, Mason said nothing, just fumed in silence.

"You're bigger than everyone else, which naturally makes you believe you're not only smarter but older than you really are as well; which can make you irrational and reckless." My gaze softened. "But at the same time, you're scared. If you're not careful, you'll break something or hurt someone. There are so many physical changes going on in your body at once that your brain can't keep up and you often times don't know your own strength." I shifted my weight, remembering what I felt in the months leading up to my first shift. "Then on the other hand, you like the power. You let yourself for a split second enjoy the fact that you have the ability to protect your loved ones. And then you imagine yourself hurting those you care about."

Mason opened his mouth to reply, but I wasn't done. "The emotional roller coaster you're on becomes too much and you lash out and become angry with yourself for hurting someone close to you. Then you finally start to change again. You feel hopeless, defenseless… a monster. This makes you more afraid because not only do you feel like your physical strength means nothing, but because you think, 'How am I supposed to defend my family if I can't defend myself?' I know how stressful it can be, but you need to learn to control it, or your anger will consume you. That's where I can help you; if you'll learn to let people in."

"Who're you to talk? You're like a human ice cube. And how can you be so sure you know we're going through the same thing? Everyone's different. Mason said, his anger slightly diminishing.

"I don't have much to say in mixed company. But things get rather awkward if you have nothing to say in groups of two. And have you looked in a mirror lately?" I tried to explain without sounding like a smart ass.

"Not closely, no."

I rolled my eyes. "What color is your hair?" Mason looked at me like I'd grown a second head.

"Where are you going with this?"

"Just answer the question."

"Black."

"And your eyes?"

"Hazel." Mason paused for a minute. "Sort of. What does this have to do with anything?"

I hesitated. "A long time ago… when I was a toddler, my dad, Kit, mentioned to a colleague that my mother was pregnant again with twins. This was before he left the Edison Group. That was sixteen years ago. Nine months later, someone had told him my mother had died in childbirth, after giving birth to a healthy set of twins… a boy and a girl on the date of January fifth. Tell me, when is yours and Lucy's birthdays?"

"So what are you saying? That Lucy and I are your long lost siblings?" Mason asked.

"There's only one way to find out." I replied. We exchanged looks. "Oh and at some point today, apologize to Simon for being so moody. He'll get it."

Mason glared, slightly annoyed at being over powered. "Fine."

"Also, if you think you may come across wrong or not in the way you intended, back track. Fix it. But be subtle."

"Okay. Whatever you say, master Obi Wan." Mason replied. I gave him a questioning look. "Star Wars?" No change. "Yoda? Lightsabers? Jabba the Hut?"

"I grew up in an institution. I have no idea what you're talking about."

"I grew up in an orphanage and I still know who Darth Vader is." Mason began walking back to the house. I rolled my eyes.

_**Marlee's POV**_

With some help, I had gotten Chloe to lay like she had the night before while taking off the makeshift splint. Quickly, I removed the sterile cloth, noticing the lack of blood on the pad. But that wasn't the most shocking part of the wound. All that was left of the incision from the night before was a thin pink line in place of the angry, red stitches. I paused and stared for a minute before coming back to reality. "Kit…"

I felt Kit move closer. "Do you know what this means?" Kit said nothing, only giving me a meaningful look.

"What's going on? Is there something wrong?" Chloe asked.

"No, nothing. It just healed a little more quickly than we would have expected." I said.

"You're free to go for now, Chloe." Kit said. "I need to speak with Marlee alone for a moment." Chloe nodded, leaving the room, closing the door behind her.

"It's going to have to happen sooner than we thought." Kit said, mumbling under his breath. It was a fact he wasn't happy about.

"I know. It's not fair. They're so young." I pushed back the tears in my eyes.

"Marlee… what did you see when you touched that scar?"

"There are two possible futures for Derek and Chloe. If I am correct, Chloe awoke with a migraine this morning. This is due to the fact that Derek's mating imprint with Chloe is poisoning her. It will only get worse from here. If Derek and Chloe don't… consummate their mate bond within the next month, Chloe will die. It is the only antidote to the reacting chemicals in Chloe's body." I explained.

Kit sighed. "I guess it was going to happen sometime. It's better than Chloe dying." He still didn't look happy with the arrangement.

"I wasn't finished. I saw three possible futures for them. The first was very bold and clear. If Derek and Chloe complete their mate bond, Chloe will become pregnant, with twins. I heard howls and babies crying and I saw vague flashes of two beautiful infants. But the second one was a bit blurry… I heard speeding cars and there were flashes of a funeral. And Derek he was…" I swallowed the lump that formed in my throat. "He offed himself." I forced the words out quickly and bluntly. Kit's gaze darkened. I continued. "The third image was much blurrier than the second. Derek refused to complete the mate bond and when Chloe died, so did Derek of natural causes… more or less."

I waiting for Kit to reply, but he remained silent. "I can't make sense of it all. Chloe is still so young and carefree. And Derek is too timid and careful. I don't believe they are ready to be parents. But I don't want Chloe and Derek to die either. Hell, I don't even know what the second vision was about. I'm so confused, Kit. What should we tell them?"

Kit shrugged, wiping a hand down his face. "I don't know."

"I know one thing." Kit raised his gaze to face me. "Derek won't make love to Chloe unless he knows she's emotionally ready. But if he doesn't Chloe dies and Derek will die soon after of a broken heart."

Kit slammed his hand on the door. "That doesn't mean that those are the _only_ possible futures for them. You said the future is always changing. So this doesn't mean we need to choose between death and premature parenthood."

"Kit, the clearer the visions are, the more possible the reality. Right now, I'm not going to worry about the second vision. I'll keep it in mind, and continue mulling it over, but for now we need to focus on the situation at hand." Kit motioned for me to continue. "The image of Chloe and Derek's children was as clear to me as if they were right in front of me. Moving on to the third vision, the one of Chloe dying of mate bond poisoning. It wasn't very clear. It was a bunch of jumbled images, but it made enough sense for me to realize that it's still a possibility. It's obvious to me that there are two options. Either Chloe and Derek die, or they become parents. Your choice." I replied, shoving down the anger building in my chest. "And let's not forget the other vision. It looked a lot like a hit and run. Chloe was declared dead on scene. That's the one where—" Kit's glare stopped me from going further. "I'll keep scrying for more information on that one. It was the next clearest after the vision of Chloe's impending pregnancy."

Again, I paused waiting for a response from Kit. I sighed. "Are you going to respond in at all? I need feedback on this."

"Do you think I want to condemn them to this? Do you think this is the life I would've chosen for my son?"

"You have your options. You decide. The sooner they know the better." I walked past him, fed up with his bullshit.

I felt Kit grab my hand. His hold was firm, but gentle. "If parenthood is the only option they have, then I suppose that's the only we go with. But isn't it possible for them to use contraceptives?"

"Birth control isn't an option. It takes almost a month for it to officially kick in for one, and for another the werewolf venom dissolves it before it can stay in the system long enough for it to work anyway. There's always condoms. But let's face it: Derek's big physically. I highly doubt his parts are any diff—"

"Okay, that's—"

"Don't be immature."

"I'm not being immature. It's just hard to think of my kid being sexually active…"

I smiled. "All I'm saying is that werewolf activity can be rough. And condoms are only seventy percent effective at preventing pregnancy in normal humans. I'd say if we factor in Derek's stats that brings the effectiveness down to about fifty percent. Forty if you factor in the werewolf venom."

Kit considered that. "I keep forgetting how potent werewolf venom is. But we still have to try for that forty percent."

"I agree. But we must only tell them about Chloe's death. That's enough for Derek to want to make it happen. If a person knows too much about their future, they die. They must _not _know about their future children." I warned. "I'll make sure Lucy knows this as well. That's probably why she hasn't gotten up yet; because of the vision."

Kit nodded. "I'll handle telling them. You go do whatever it is you do."

_**Chloe's POV**_

I sat down on the bed, looking myself over in the mirror. The blond of my roots were starting to become noticeable. I really wanted to dye it red again, but Derek was right. It was too noticeable. Maybe one day, we'd be safe enough to try the red out again. But until then, I needed to pick up a bottle of brown dye to cover the blond. After shrugging on Tori's bejeweled skull t-shirt and my favorite pair of jeans, I checked my reflection again.

Did I really have enough courage to try and seduce Derek? I couldn't believe it… but Derek doesn't lie.

A knock on the door interrupted my thoughts. "Come in." I said, as kid entered the room.

"Chloe I need to speak with you and Derek. It's important. Meet me in the front entry way in an hour." I nodded.

_**Marlee's POV**_

"Okay, everyone ready?" I asked. We were taking a "field trip" into town, leaving Derek and Chloe behind. I held a shopping list in hand while Simon, Mason, Tori and Lucy gathered behind me.

Simon turned to Lucy. "You've been quiet all day. What's going on?"

Lucy turned her gaze to the ground. "I'm afraid it's not my secret to tell. Sorry, Simon." Lucy walked away from Simon and met me as I was climbing into the driver's seat. "Is it true? Is Chloe…" she dropped her voice to a whisper, "…pregnant?"

I sighed and hopped out of the drivers seat. I motioned for Lucy to follow me, as I led away from the group, out of hearing range. I turned to her. "She's not pregnant yet. But there's a good possibility that we could have some infants on our hands with in the next year." I explained.

"Why? Why would they take that chance?" Lucy looked frustrated.

"If they don't Chloe dies. Derek too. That's all I can say for now Lucy. I'll tell you the rest of the situation later, but for now you can't say anything — to _anyone_." I shouldn't have even said anything to her.

"I understand. I won't say anything." Her face softened. "Thanks for telling me."

I nodded and we headed back to the van.

_**Normal POV**_

Chloe sat on the couch beside Derek. "So what do you think this is all about?" Chloe asked him, when they came down to the front entryway an hour later. Derek shrugged a response. "What did you do?"

"What? I didn't do anything…" Derek replied.

Suddenly, Kit cam into the room. "On the contrary Derek, if what we're assuming is correct, you may have to do something you don't want to do." Kit took a seat across from them.

Derek's eyes darkened. "What are you talking about?" Kit cast his eyes downward and hesitated. "Dad. What is going on?" Derek asked more firmly this time.

"We think… well, Marlee thinks that your mating imprint is poisoning Chloe."

Derek's expression changed to one of confusion and anger. "What proof do you have?"

"Chloe's bullet wound should have taken at least a month or so to completely heal. Instead, it's completely healed except for a small scar and a sore muscle. Marlee thinks that because of the mating imprint you share with Chloe, the lycanthropy virus is poisoning her, causing her to become more like a werewolf. Getting to the point, within the time span of a month, if this continues, Chloe will die." Kit paused to let this sink in.

"A month?" Derek stood to his feet. Chloe sat frozen to her seat as she looked at Kit, an expression of shock on her face. Kit nodded. "Shouldn't the lycanthropy virus just make her a werewolf?"

"For a normal human, yes. But Marlee thinks because Chloe is a supernatural, it alters the effect. She also believes that your viral blood has been tampered with in the experiment."

Derek sat down next to Chloe, pinching the bridge of his nose. He looked up when he noticed Chloe shaking next to him. "Chloe? It's gonna be okay. I promise. I'm not gonna let you die on me." Slowly, Chloe turned her head to look at Derek and nodded.

"However, there is a possible antidote to the venomous lycanthropy virus coursing through Chloe's veins." Kit paused again.

"I will do anything to save her." Derek replied.

"If our theory is correct, to stop the venom's destructive property, you must have sex together to complete the mating imprint." Kit had the ghost of a smile on his face. Chloe snapped out of her trance like state, upon hearing what Kit had to say. Derek noticed the smile on Kit's face and glared at him with a look that could kill.

"Is this some sort of sick joke?" Derek asked.

"I'm afraid not."

"I won't do it. Chloe isn't ready and I'm not going to push her." Derek said, standing to leave.

"Then she dies, Derek." Kit said sternly, all evidence of humor gone from his face.

"I'm sitting right here." Chloe stood. Everyone looked at her.

"Chloe what do you want to do?"

"If it'll save my life, I'll do it." She said. "My only worry is risk of pregnancy." Chloe had a thoughtful frown on her face.

"Pregnancy? Why would you be worried about that?" Kit stumbled over his words and nervously shifted his weight. Derek noticed.

"Because unprotected sex often leads to an infant…" Chloe gave Kit a weird look.

"Ah, yes, of course. Kay. Well, that takes care of that." Kit thew Derek a box. "Have fun!" he left for the basement.

Derek looked at the box: condoms. He inwardly face palmed. There was no way an adult werewolf could use these, no matter what brand they were.

"Did that really just happen?" Chloe asked, dumbfounded. Derek nodded. "Greeaat…"

_**/AN: Okay so just as before, constructive critisizm is accepted. NO FLAMES please. And yes, I know I spelled critisizm wrong. I'm writing this at 2 am and frankly, I don't care right now. :) Please leave a review! - Kit/**_


	2. Sealed with a Kiss

_**/AN: Okay here's the updated version of Chapter 2. I hope you guys enjoy it. Also: I just looked at the update for chapter 1... On my computer, the paragraphs look screwy. On the site, they look completely normal! Yay! I don't have to fix anything! :) Woot! PS. This chapter has been edited.**_

_**Disclaimer: Still don't own it./**_

_**Normal POV**_

Marlee has driven into town, brooding over the fact that Kit had sent her, Simon, Lucy, Tori and Mason to get food for the house. She pulled into a Kroger parking lot. "Alright, everybody out. You all know the rules for a field trip. Stick to the rules. I don't wanna have to bail anyone out of a trap." She kept her voice low, just loud enough so everyone could hear. Everybody mumbled agreements and they headed in.

Tori came up behind Marlee. "Kit wanted me to make out a menu for the week. He figured it'd be good for us to go into town every week so we don't go stir crazy." She handed Marlee the list.

"Thanks, Tori. This'll make our trip shorter and ensure that we don't forget anything." Marlee folded it up in her pocket. Tori nodded and drifted back to Mason.

"You okay?" Tori asked.

"Yeah, why?" Came his short answer.

"It's just, you nearly attacked my brother this morning. You seem a little moodier than usual, and I wanted to know if you were okay." Tori replied. Okay, so maybe she had a tiny crush on Mason… but she really did care about how he was feeling.

"I'm fine." It came out a little harsher than he meant it to. Mason inwardly winced and remembered what Derek had told him. He sighed. "Thank you for asking." He added in a gentler tone.

"If you ever need to talk, we live in the same house and my room's always open…" Tori looked around at the group who was getting farther and farther ahead of them. "Just don't tell anyone I'm being so nice, okay?"

"Whatever." Mason mumbled.

When everyone was inside and accounted for, Marlee began giving out jobs. "Okay, since Tori and Mason seem to be all buddy, buddy together, you two take a cart and gather up the vegetables and fruits on the list and anything either of you might want as a snack. Simon and Lucy, you gather up the meats and condiments and some snacks. I'll gather up the boxed and canned things. We meet back here in half an hour." She ripped off the sections of list according to group and handed them out accordingly.

Mason didn't like the idea of his sister being with Simon, but he went along with the plan anyway. Tori grabbed a car and the two went off to find their assigned foods.

x-x-x

"So how was I last night? I think we set a new record together." Simon said, grabbing a cart. He gave Lucy a knowing look.

"You were great! I think we can do better though." Lucy replied. They laughed, enjoying what only they knew. "I think my brother's pretty pissed though. Maybe you should talk to him. He'd probably like to try out our technique."

"Aw but I like our hot, sexy secret. I feel clever for once. Let me bask in my glory." Simon said, striking a movie star pose. He paused to look at the isle signs.

"I think you mean _my _hot, sexy secret. It was my idea, clever boy." Lucy replied with a grin. She shivered. "I hate the freezer section. My body's too small to generate it's own heat over here."

Simon grinned and wrapped his arms around her. "Was it your idea? I could've sworn it was my idea to use the cucumber." Lucy burst out laughing.

"Yes, but I suggested we use produce. I said _nothing _about a cucumber." Lucy replied.

Simon smiled. "Well maybe next time we'll come up with something better." He rubbed Lucy's arms, kissed her lips and pulled away from her. "Come on, we gotta get the items on the list."

x-x-x

"So you really don't like Simon do you?" Tori asked.

"I have nothing against Simon. I just don't like Simon and Lucy together, that's all." Mason replied, picking up a cucumber and tossing it in the bag.

Tori frowned and took the cucumber out of the bag. She looked it over and squished it slightly before placing it in the bag again. "He won't hurt her, you know. He's a complete gentleman with his ladies. I think that's why I liked him so much in Lyle House."

Mason grinned. "You had a crush on your brother?"

Tori scowled. "Shut up. I didn't know he was my brother, okay? I mean look at him! Does he even _look _like he's related to me?" Mason didn't say anything. He put a tomato in another bag.

"Exactly." Tori took out the tomato and turned it over in her hand before putting it back in the bag.

"Why do you keep doing that?"

"What?" Tori gave Mason an odd look.

"Messing with the stuff I already put in the bags?"

"You can't just put random produce in the bag. I could be rotten or damaged. You've gotta look it over first." Tori explained.

Mason let out a laugh. "I don't need to look at it. I can just tell the good from the bad."

Tori looked skeptical. "Uh huh. Sure. Whatever." She rolled her eyes.

"No, really. I'll prove it." Mason unraveled the bandanna from around his wrist and tied it around his eyes. Tori moved to make sure it completely covered his sockets.

"Go. If you pick out three good vegetables in a row, I'll believe you." Tori said. Mason turned towards the produce letting his nose to the work. All at once he picked up a cucumber, a tomato, and a carrot. He lifted the bandanna and turned to Tori, handing her the produce. "Your highness." He had a smug expression on his face.

Tori briefly examined the vegetables. "Dick." Was the only thing she said.

Mason laughed and gave a bow. "Thank you. I take that as a complement." Tori gave him the bird.

x-x-x

"Okay, next we need to pick up bedding. Kit's insisting that we're staying for a while and he wants you all to have personalized rooms." Marlee said and they loaded up the van.

"But isn't the manor yours?" Lucy asked.

"Luce, it's no more mine than it is yours. Just because I own it, doesn't mean I want it."

"Uhm… okay?"

"So where are we going?" Simon asked.

"Walmart."

"Oh, of course." Tori complained.

"It's a small town, Tori. I'm not gonna waste gas going to Pier 1 or something to buy your fashion friendly bedding." Marlee replied.

Tori huffed.

x-x-x

Tori sighed as Lucy dragger her to the home decor section of Walmart. "This fucking sucks." Tori said.

"It's better than the itchy sheets back at the house." Lucy replied, looking through the selection. Simon and Mason were in the next isle over.

"Can't argue there."

"OOH!" Lucy ran over to a full sized comforter that was black with pink skulls on it.

Tori grabbed a plain sky blue comforter and motioned to Lucy. "I've got my stuff, you've got yours; let's check out and go home."

Lucy and Tori met Simon and Mason at the register. Simon was carrying a black, gray and red plaid comforter. Mason's was blue and gray. Marlee met everybody at the front of the store. "Is everybody ready?" Lucy raised he hand as if she was a student. "Yes, Lucy?"

"There was one more thing I wanted to check out. I'll meet you guys in the car in twenty minutes?" Lucy requested.

Marlee sighed. "Fine."

x-x-x

"Alright, everybody head in. I'll bring in the stuff. Lucy, I need you to help." Marlee requested, giving Lucy a knowing look.

_**Simon's POV**_

When we got back from the field trip, instead of heading to my room, I stopped by Derek's. Just so we're clear, I didn't expect Derek to be sitting in the middle of his floor, staring at a box of condoms. I had no idea how long he had been sitting there, but I saw a perfect opportunity. "The directions are on the box, big guy." Derek glared at me with a look that could kill. "So what are you doing anyway?"

"Thinking." He replied, returning his gaze to the box on the floor.

"About what?" I asked, sitting in front of him, the box between us.

"Must you ask?" Derek asked.

"Like I said, read the directions on the box. For a genius like you, it can't be that hard, can it?" I stood.

"It's harder than you think." Derek replied. I rolled my eyes and headed for the door. He made everything so complicated. "Whatever, bro. Have fun." I left, heading for my room.

_**Marlee's POV**_

Marlee turned to Lucy. She had just finished telling her about what was going on with Derek and Chloe. "So you think she'll get pregnant?"

"Most definitely. But like I said before, you can't tell anyone Lucy, especially not Chloe. It could be disastrous. We have to let things run it's course." Marlee instructed.

"I understand. But I have a question." Lucy said, her eyes pleading.

"What?" Marlee dreaded the answer.

"To get our mind off the drama, we should go play paint ball!" the blond suggested.

"Lucy… we live out in the middle of nowhere. Where the hell are we going to play paint ball?" Marlee was shocked by Lucy's idiocy.

"When I sneaked off today while shopping, I found a game store and bought a whole bunch of paint ball stuff with the money I've been saving. We can go into the woods and have some fun with them. And with out enhanced senses it'll be easy! It can be boys vs g—"

"Lucy before your insanity becomes contagious, round up everyone and I'll meet you out back in an hour. Just tell me where your stuff is at." Marlee said.

"It's upstairs in my room, under my bed." Lucy's eyes lit up with excitement.

"Good. Now go gather up people." Marlee watched as Lucy walked back into the house, taking her time as she walked. When she got to Lucy's room, she inwardly squealed. Lucy's room was a mess. They had only been here half a day and the chick's clothes were strewn everywhere. Poor Simon. Now she knew why the couple never went to hang out in her room.

Ignoring the mess, Marlee ventured over to the bed, stepping on everything she could. Muddy foot prints on her clean clothes would teach her to pick up after herself. Looking under the bed, Marlee found the game stash and quickly exited Lucy's room.

_**Lucy's POV**_

Taking down a mental list of people, Lucy ventured out to see who she could find. First on the list was Simon; partially because she really wanted to see him, and partially because he was the first person on the list. She decided to look in his room first.

Lucy didn't have to look very far because when she entered the front entry way, she heard Simon's voice from the kitchen. There, she found Simon and Mason engaged in a full out arm wrestle. Tori was standing over them, an intense look in her eyes, her gaze fixed on the two arms. Lucy guessed she was refereeing.

Lucy stood beside Tori, watching the match with high interest. "How long has the match been going on?" Lucy asked Tori, not taking her eyes off the boys.

"About ten minutes. They bet double chores for a week to the loser. So whoever loses has to do both their and the winner's chores for a week to the loser and pay the winner fifty dollars." Tori explained.

"Jeeze, that's rough." Lucy said, She screamed when there was a sudden slam on the table.

"I win again!" Mason jumped up in celebration.

"Again?" Lucy asked Tori.

Tori nodded. "This is the second time Mason has won. Which makes Simon's score settle to two week double chores and a hundred bucks. Ouch." Tori mock winced at Simon's loss. "Sucks for him."

"Dammit! I want a rematch, cheater!" Simon yelled, pointing the finger of doom in Mason's general direction.

"Cheater? How the hell am I a cheater? I won fair and square! Tori would have call it if I cheated." Mason replied.

"You and your fucking werewolf genes helped you cheat—"

Suddenly, a loud whistle rang throughout the room. Both boys stopped in their tracks. "Thank you." Lucy started out. "All three of you are invited to play back yard paint ball in an hour. Hope you'll be there! Now please, by all means carry on with your bickering." Before leaving, Lucy planted a kiss on Simon's cheek. "Bye!"

Next on her list was Kit. Lucy figured he was probably in the lab in the basement. Exiting the kitchen, she made her way to the door, beside the staircase. Why anyone would place a door to a basement there was beyond her.

Lucy continued down the stairwell, searching for Kit. In on corner, there was a pile of wooden planks and tools that looked as if it had been shoved over to make room for something. On the walls, there were shelves that held old paint buckets, probably as old as the house itself. The basement itself was dank and probably in serious need of being replaced. Lucy would have to remind Chloe not to go down here. Her necromancer abilities were ten times stronger than hers. Finally, Lucy found Kit sitting at a desk in front of a computer, surrounded by a bunch of file cabinets. "I found you!" Lucy screamed. Kit jumped.

"I didn't realize we were playing hide and seek, Luce." Kit said, turning to face Lucy, scratching the back of his head.

"We weren't Marlee wanted me to find you to tell you that we were planning on having a midnight paint ball outside, in the backyard; boys vs girls. It's in an hour. I hope to see you there!" Lucy looked fairly proud of herself, having delivered her message successfully to four people now.

"I'll be there Lucy. Thanks for the invite." Kit replied, turning back to his work.

"You're welcome!" Lucy left, searching out the next person on her list: Derek. She guessed he would be in his room with Chloe.

Lucy made her way up the winding staircase and past the old grandfather clock on the landing. "Okay, let's see." Lucy squeezed her eyes shut, using her nose as a locating device. "Right is Simon, so left is Derek." Lucy knocked on Derek's door.

"Yeah?" a muffled voice signaled for Lucy to enter. Lucy opened the door to see Derek sprawled on the floor looking at a box of condoms.

Lucy blushed. "Um… Derek, why are you staring at a box of condoms?" She twiddle with her thumbs.

"Don't ask. What do you need?"

Lucy refocused on the task at hand. "In about an hour we're having a backyard paint ball game. It's boys vs girls." Derek grunted. "Does that mean you'll be there?" Lucy asked. Derek nodded. "Yay! See you then!" she replied as she bound out the door.

As she went down the steps, she paused to look at the grandfather clock on the landing. She still had forty five minutes. Chloe was probably in the library reading something on necromancy. The library was located past the dining room. To the left of the dining room was the pool, and connected to the pool was the work out room.

Finally, Lucy made it to the library only to find it empty. "Where could she be?" Lucy asked herself. Usually, she was really good at finding people.

"Um, Lucy? What are you looking for?"

Lucy turned to see Chloe behind her. "Chloe! I knew you'd be here! Yay!" Lucy hugged Chloe.

"Um… good to see you too Luce?" Chloe was confused.

"You're cordially invited to a paint ball game in the backyard in half an hour. It's a boy vs girls type thing and I really hope you can make it!" Lucy pleaded.

"I'll be there Lucy." Chloe smiled, as Lucy ran off.

_**Normal POV**_

Half an hour later, everyone gathered in the backyard. Lucy had a bag of something in her hands.

Almost everyone was dressed in dark clothing. The night air was cool and crisp. The sky was clear and the stars shone brightly.

"In front of you is a line of materials needed to play paint ball. There is a steel chest plate, goggles, a paint ball gun and ammunition in paint ball form. There is enough for all of us. Kit and I are already in our protective gear. They can fit over your clothes, so there is no need to strip. That means you Simon." Marlee glared at Simon, who grinned mischievously. "This is a boys vs girls game so divide up." Marlee instructed.

_**Derek's POV**_

I felt horrible. I had been up in my room all day to avoid Chloe, when what I should've been doing was talking to her. Marlee was barking instructions at us. Robotically, I did as I was told, but my mind was still on Chloe.

Once everyone had their paint ball gear on, they separated into groups. "Now everyone talk to their teams and we'll play."

_**Marlee's POV**_

Marlee gathered the other three girls around in a circle. "Okay, does everyone have an advantage?" she asked.

"Lucy and I can both see Liz. She'll help us look around corners." Chloe said, quietly.

"I can use the invisible light spell to make light." Tori replied.

"And I'm left with astral projection. Now do we know the boys' advantages?" Marlee asked.

"Derek and Mason are werewolves. They can see in the dark. And Simon and Kit are sorcerers, they can use 'invisible light' like Tori can." Chloe said.

"Perfect. Smart girl." Chloe rolled her eyes.

_**Kit's POV**_

Kit saw Marlee bring her group into a circle. "Monkey see, monkey do." He said, gathering Derek, Simon, and Mason into a semi-circle around him.

"Name your strengths." Kit whispered. He looked at Derek.

"Seriously? You know our strengths and advantages." Derek replied.

"Yeah Derek's right. We should be discussing the girl's strengths and weaknesses, not ours." Mason replied.

Kit deadpanned. "Fine. So we know Chloe can see ghosts—"

"So can Lucy." Mason interrupted.

"Okay, so both Lucy and Chloe can see ghost. They could us Liz as a lookout." Simon said.

"Lucy can see ghosts but she can't hear them. The Edison Group tried to enhance her powers but instead made her sixth sense deaf." Mason said. "Oops." He added sarcastically.

"Lovely. So that means she has to follow Chloe's lead leaving her defenseless." Kit said.

"What about Tori?" Derek asked.

"The invisible light spell." Simon said. Everyone stared at him. "It only shows light to the holder." He explained.

"Marlee's a shaman. She can astral project. But I'm not sure she'll use it. She can't hold anything in that state." Kit said.

"The point of paint ball is to see how many times a team can get hit by the other team. The steel chest plates have a sensor that can count how many times a person gets hit. So don't get hit." Kit instructed.

When they broke the circle, they discovered the girls' treacherous plans. All four of the girls had left the yard and hid on their own. "You've got to be kidding me!" Mason said, a look of shock on his face.

"Those devious little bitches!" Simon was pissed.

"Of course you know boys, this means war!" Kit grabbed a pain ball gun and faced the boys. Derek stayed silent. "They could be anywhere. Don't let your guard down."

_**Chloe's POV**_

Chloe and Lucy had split away from the group. They had been following Liz and had found an old hunting perch in a tall tree, just big enough for two people. They had been waiting silently for about twenty minutes before they heard a shot and a squeal. "Tori." Chloe said. Lucy snickered.

Chloe could just make out the short, slim figure of Simon chasing Tori. Aiming through her scope, she aimed for his chest plate and shot, watching as the impact made him stumble.

Lucy shot beside her as Derek and Simon and Mason came into view along with Marlee sneaking down from a branch near the group.

"Come one Simon. I'm your sister, you don't wanna shoot your sister… do you?" Tori was backed up against a tree, Simon grinning like a mad man.

Tori put on a mean face and lifter her gun and shot, pushing Simon back. Marlee and Kit were engaged in battle. Derek and Mason were nowhere to be found. Chloe swore, and began climbing down the tree stand. "Liz, look ahead and keep an eye out for Derek and Mason." Chloe told her.

"Okie dokie!" Liz replied, flying forward.

Cautiously, Cloe and Lucy strode forward trying to be as silent as possible, which was not going well at all.

_**Derek's POV**_

As usual, Chloe was noisy as ever. Her feet stomped loudly on every leaf and twig. Mason was about twenty feet away from me, closing in on Lucy.

Slowly and silently, I crept up behind Chloe, silent as a natural wolf in its natural habitat. I inwardly scoffed. As if any of this was normal.

Chloe stopped. I seized my chance. Wrapping my arm around her waist, and another around her mouth to keep her from screaming, I dragged her behind a tree and wrestled her into my lap. She struggled and managed to slam her fist into my jaw and removed my hand from her lips. Damn Simon and his self defense lessons. "Derek!" again, she struggled to get out of my grasp. I rolled my eyes.

"Chloe, it's me, Derek." I said, simply. She looked up. "But you…? How did…? Ugh. Damn werewolf." I chuckled as she relaxed, laying her head on my shoulder. "Taking me hostage are you?" She smirked.

"No. I need to talk to you." I replied.

"You do realize we're in the middle of a paint ball war, right? Or is the idea of 'fun' incomprehensible for your genius mind?" Chloe teased. She stood, grabbing her paint ball gun in the process.

"I realize that." I came to my feet.

"Then live a little. Have some fun while you get your revenge on me." A sly grin graced her lips.

"Revenge? For w—"

Before I could answer, Chloe shot me twice and ran off saying, "Catch me if you can!"

As I ran after her, I yelled back, "We'll see who's faster!" I was already gaining on her; not really much of a challenge. Eventually, we came to a clearing where everyone else had engaged in battle and was covered in paint from head to toe. All hues of reds, greens, yellows, and blues could be seen on people and the surrounding area.

Marlee and Kit had been shooting at each other until Kit ran out of ammo and was completely bomb shelled by paint from both Marlee and Lucy. Across the clearing, Mason and Simon had started an actual fight; their guns lay forgotten in the grass and dirt five feet away. Tori was shooting at them both. I rolled my eyes at their idiocy. They never learn.

Upon my better judgment, I decided to ignore them and looked up at the sky. The moon had begun to set meaning it was well past midnight. Chloe had begun to join in with Tori, shooting at Mason. Marlee, decided that Kit had, had enough, and moved on to me, causing my focus to center on guarding my chest plate and shooting at Marlee.

In the middle of her advance on my defeat, her gun clicked, signaling her gun was empty. Her face blanked and I smirked. "Aw, shit. You ass." I shot her with paint as many times as I could as she tried her hardest to cover the chest pale she wore around her.

Finally, when Mason and Simon had beaten themselves senseless and lay on the ground, half conscious and panting and everyone else's guns had run out of paint pellets we sat on the ground staring at the mess we'd made in the fading moonlight.

Chloe lay in my arms staring at the stars. I was pointing out which ones were which while she counted all the colors that had been splattered on my hands.

Marlee was sitting in front of Kit, talking, probably about Chloe and I. I didn't care what they said. What they wanted us to do was Chloe's decision. If it was left up to me, we would've done it two years ago when we first started dating. But when Chloe said 'no' I left it alone and never brought it up again. Now the topic had arose again and I didn't want to face it.

I was a coward. I could take on evil scientists and deranged rapist werewolves without a silver of fear but when it came to sex with my girlfriend I was the equivalent of Courage the Cowardly Dog. What was I afraid of? Rejection? I inwardly scoffed. If the thought of us being together had bothered her so much, Chloe would've done something about it a while ago, way before any of this happened; before dad told us about Marlee's prophecy.

Still, I knew something wasn't right. Dad stuttered yesterday when Chloe mentioned pregnancy. He never stuttered, which meant he was keeping something from us.

"Derek? You okay?" Chloe asked. She was looking at me. I realized I had gone silent, lost in my own thoughts.

"Yeah. I'm fine. Just tired I guess." I said. Chloe nodded.

I looked over to where Lucy and Simon sat, asleep against a nearby tree. I'd only admit it to myself, but I was jealous of Simon's romance. They could be normal while Chloe and I were destined to a life without normalcy. I've learned from another great werewolf, 'Life sucks. Then you die. Yeah, we should be so lucky.' Awesome. Now I'm quoting fictional characters, which brings me back to my point: there's no such thing as 'normalcy' in my life.

I sighed. Mason was prostrate with his hand behind his banged up head. I assumed he was doing the same thing we were. I could never tell with him. And he called _me _and ice cube.

Tori had gone in to take a shower. Prissy. In the end, everyone had given up on teams. So there was no use tallying up scores.

_**Lucy's POV**_

Mason came over to where I was sitting. "Hey," he said.

"Hi…" I replied briefly.

I'm gonna head inside. Are you coming?" he asked.

"Um… no. I don't think I'm gonna sit out here for a while." I stared at my feet. I hated lying to him, especially after everything we've been through.

"Okay. Goodnight."

"Night." I said softly. Mason turned and went inside.

Tori had left about ten minutes ago. Simon and Kit were walking towards the house talking softly and Marlee was packing her her things. The only ones left would be me, Chloe and Erek. Now was my chance. I walked up to Marlee. "Good evening, Lucy."

"Hey Marlee, I was wondering if I could take a walk. I won't go far." I said. Even if she said no I was gonna do it anyway.

"I suppose that's fine. Just try to stay within yelling distance."

I nodded. "Thanks." I hiked off into the woods. I kept going until I couldn't see the house, making sure no one was following me. The moon shone brightly through the trees. I found a small clearing and decided that this would be the perfect place.

I turned around again to make sure that no one had followed me. When I was sure that I was safe from prying, nosing eyes, I took off my paint ball armor along with my clothing. A shiver went down my spine from the chill of the night. Feeling that the time was right, I took a deep breath and morphed with ease. I felt my bones move and rearrange in my body, coarse hair growing and spreading over my body. Unlike my brother and most other werewolves, I didn't feel pain when I morphed and though I had only changed twice, I've had no issues completing it.

I flexed my paws and sniffed the air. Another thing I noticed about my condition was that I could change at will whenever I wanted. The only time that I was forced into the change was the first time I morphed about a year ago. It sucks that Mason can't morph as easily. I know he's getting frustrated. He's already been stuck mid morph three times now. I feel bad for him.

As a wolf everything is different. My senses are heightened, and you can't think about walking when you want to walk. It's almost as if you have to clear your mind completely to do anything. It's definitely a great stress reliever.

I ran around and rolled in the dirt a bit until I noticed that the moon was beginning to set. That was my cue to morph into a human and head back to the house.

I was back in the backyard in ten minutes. "Have fun?" I flinched and looked to my right to see Marlee.

"Damn it." I mumbled. Damn Shaman. "You know it's rude to intrude when one wants to be alone." I said sitting down at the base of a tree.

"Who says I didn't just decide to let my spirit roam free in the astral plane and accidentally stumbled upon your little ritual?" Marlee replied, sitting cross legged in front of me.

"I'm not an idiot. I know that's not what really happened." I said. I turned my head up to look at the stars.

"No, you're right. It's not what happened. I knew you wouldn't have agreed if I volunteered to go with you. I just wanted to make sure you didn't get hurt… or worse." Marlee said.

"That wasn't for you to decide. It wasn't your place."

"Just because I'm a hard ass, doesn't mean I don't care about our group, Luce. Now either you tell me what's going on, or I'm going to have to go in and get it myself." I brought my eyes down to hers. "Yes, that's right. I can do that."

"You saw me morph. You know what happened." I replied, I looked around at the empty yard and then up at the stars.

"Yes. But I've also studies the werewolf morph cycle, Lucy. And I saw enough to know you're different than the others. You can morph on command and you have no pain when you do it." Marlee said.

I held back tears. "I didn't ask for this. I didn't ask to have it so easy when my brother has to go through agony whenever his body decides it's tired of being human."

"I didn't say that, Lucy. I know you can't control it. I just wonder, why are you different? Was it something the Edison Group did? Or is it some sort of genetic mutation?"

I scoffed. "Why does it matter? I can't change it. And even if I could, why would I? To even the playing field for Mason? To know how he feels when he changes? I'm too selfish to change my good luck."

"Lucy it matters because like it or not, you're a supernatural. And there may be others who are going through the same thing, wondering why they're so special. They deserve and answer, Luce." Marlee replied.

"An answer I don't have."

"Are you forgetting that I'm a scientist? If you were willing, we could find the answer together. I wouldn't do it if you didn't agree to it though." Marlee said, rising to her feet.

"We don't have the equipment."

"Oh, don't we?" Marlee had a mischievous gleam in her eyes. She held out her hand to me and I took it. "What do you say?"

I thought a moment. I had nothing to lose. "When do we start?" I asked her.

"I was hoping you'd say that. Tomorrow sound good?" She asked and we started for the manor.

"Sounds perfect." We stayed silent for a few feet. "Marlee, no one else can know about this. It was supposed to be a secret.

"I understand. I won't say anything."

"Thanks." When we got inside we went our separate ways. Marlee said she was going to the lab and I went to the kitchen to grab a drink.

Simon was sitting at the kitchen table. "Hey, Lucy. I've been waiting for you."

I smiled and reached into the refrigerator and grabbed a bottle of water. "Have you?"

"Yeah, I wanted to make sure you got in okay." Simon said switching positions so he was sitting on the table.

"I'm fine." I replied, leaning against the counter.

"Okay. Well I guess I'll head to bed then." Simon started walking out of the kitchen.

I grabbed his hand. "Mind if I join you?" I asked.

He looked at me and smiled. "Not at all." We headed up to his room.

x-x-x an hour previous x-x-x

_**Normal POV**_

Chloe checked her watch. "Holy shit." I gave her a look as she sat up. "It's two forty five."

"Your point?"

Chloe deadpanned. "It's late. And I need to wash the pain out of my hair." She said, standing up. I got up with her. No use arguing with a stubborn female.

I let her take a shower first which was probably a bad idea. She took the longest showers of any person I've ever met.

I sat on the bed, listening to the shower run. I still needed to talk to Chloe. But what would I say? 'Hey Chloe, let's have sex because you're dying and that's the only way to stop it?' Way to sound like a horny sex addict, Derek.

I rolled onto my side, but jumped up when I heard a loud thud in the bathroom. "Chloe? You okay?" I called when I got to the door. I would've barged in, but the last time I did that, I was nearly murdered by the woman in question. Again: Damn Simon and his self defense lessons.

"Yeah. I just dropped the shampoo bottle is all." She replied.

"Okay." I sighed. She made me a paranoid crazy. Shaking my head, I laid back on the bed, daydreaming, thinking about what dad may have "forgotten" to mention to us. Why didn't he just tell us there may be a chance Chloe could get pregnant? We would've handled it somehow.

I thought for a moment. Did I want kids? Sure, eventually I guessed. But I was almost eighteen. And I didn't want to have my child in the middle of a wild chase between us and the Edison Group. That didn't seem fair. Plus I still wanted to go to medical school. I wouldn't be able to do that with a toddler running around throwing food on my homework and slobbering on medical tools.

Then I thought about Chloe. What would happen if she got pregnant. She wanted to attend Julliard in a year or so when things had calmed down. And her grades would plummet if she was up with a baby all night.

Leaving her wasn't an option. I love her too much to do that and I'd been raised better than that anyway. Not to mention I wanted to be there for my kids. Living with Davidoff and a couple hundred whacked up scientist for the first half of my life wasn't exactly what I'd call a good childhood.

"Hey space cadet. You gonna wake up?" Chloe was sitting on the bed in nothing but a towel.

"Sorry."

"Lost in your own thoughts again?" I nodded. "You gonna tell me what you were thinking about?" She asked.

"Us."

"What about us?" Chloe laid across my chest. I had removed my shirt a while ago.

"How Marlee's prophecies always involve some sort of death or life changed experiences. How she can't ever seem to have a normal vision." I replied, slightly annoyed a Marlee.

Chloe lifted her head so that we were eye to eye. "Well you do know there is a way to change this whole death scenario… right?" Chloe said, shifting her position so her naked hips straddled my denim covered ones.

"Chloe…" I warned. My mind began to fog.

"Yes?" She murmured, kissing my neck.

"Don't do anything you're not comfortable with." I said, softly.

"Do I look uncomfortable?" She asked, bringing her face back to my own, letting her hands wander down my chest.

"No."

"Am I acting as if I'm not comfortable with this situation?" She questioned.

"Chloe, you're a drama student—"

"Derek. Answer the question."

I sighed. "No."

"It's not like we're going to have a whole lot of time to do this. And I'm sure you don't want to fuck some sick girl, laying on her death bed. Chloe replied, bluntly.

I sat up, suddenly angry. "Don't say it like that." She looked at me. "You say it like I'm going to have sex with you and then toss you away like some sort of broken dish or used tissue." Chloe grimaced at the analogy. I ignored it. "I wouldn't do that. If that was my intention, I wouldn't have stopped when you told me to a couple years ago."

Chloe nodded. "Maybe so. But that doesn't change the fact that no one would want me to have sex with some sick girl—"

I brought Chloe down and quickly rolled her over so she was under me and I kissed her firmly. "Don't you ever say you're just 'some girl' again. You're much more than that. You're my Chloe. I love you and if you ever say you're just 'some girl' again, I'll screw you senseless, and make you remember that you're special, Chloe Saunders."

_**Normal POV**_

Ignoring the massive blush on her face, Chloe wrapped her arms around Derek's neck. "I, Chloe Saunders, am just some girl on the face of the earth. If I were to die, only nine people in the entire world would care."

Derek's eyes narrowed. "Don't toy with me, Chloe. I wasn't kidding when I said I'd screw you senseless."

"Do it. I dare you." Derek didn't say anything. "I am a worthless person who no one cares—" Chloe was silenced by Derek's lips on her.s He knew she was toying with him just to get what she wanted but he didn't care.

Keeping himself from crushing her, he kept his lips on hers; unwrapping the fluffy, white towel covering her body. When she shivered, Derek pulled the comforter around them. He moved his lips down, kissing down her jaw line and down her neck. Chloe's breathing sped up slightly and Derek smirked against her skin as he moved on to her soft, supple, breasts. They were covered in goose bumps.

Forgetting about that tiny detail, Derek took one in his mouth and licked and nipped at it, making Chloe moan. Encouraged, he took the neglected breast in his hand and squeezed it, massaging the pert mound on top with his thumb. Trying to gain some sort of control, Chloe went for the button on his jeans, moving to undo them. Derek stopped her, leaving her breast for a moment to speak.

"Have you been getting into Marlee's Valium stash again?" he teased, switching to massage her other breast.

"N—no…" Chloe breathed, frustrated with herself for giving him the satisfaction of hearing her stutter.

Derek smirked and went back to Chloe's breast. After a few moments, he got bored and sat up, brushing his hair out of his face. Chloe pouted. Derek moved to under his pants when Chloe stopped him, taking over. She yanked off his pants, dragging them down below his ankles. She bit at his chest, before playing with the slight bulge beneath the thing material around his groin. He stifled a groan, refusing to let her have that satisfaction. Finally, tired of messing with him, she inserted her index fingers into the rim of his boxers and slid them down.

Derek raised a brow at her fiestiness. Ignoring it, he went back to her neck, sucking and nipping at the soft skin there for a few minutes before pulling back to admire his work. He had left a deep, purple mark where he had bitten. He moved down to the spot between her breasts and licked the creamy flesh between them, earning another moan from Chloe. Growing restless, he trailed butterfly kissed down her stomach, kissing above her naval.

Not able to control himself any longer, Derek wrapped her legs around his hips and positioned himself at her entrance. Derek looked to Chloe, asking permission. Chloe nodded, but Derek still hesitated. Frustrated, Chloe took his face in her hands and kissed him full on the lips. "I'm not a tease, Derek. I want this." Derek nodded, there noses almost touching. In one swift thrust, he settled himself inside her. Chloe winced and whimpered quietly, digging her nails into his back.

Derek kissed her forehead. "It's alright. The pain won't last long." Derek told her softly. Slowly, he moved in and out, letting her get used to the rhythm. Chloe whimpered with each movement but let him continue. Derek fought the urge to move quicker and kept the slow and steady pace. After a few moments, the whimpers turned to soft sighs and moans. With a questioning look to Chloe, Derek switch to a more normal pace. Slowly, they were able to find a comfortable speed as they rocked together.

Chloe bit her lip to keep a scream emitting from her throat as her already tight walls squeezed tighter as she came onto Derek's manhood. He stifled the groan with a kiss, continuing as he reached his own release.

Derek pulled out and rolled off of her, pulling her onto his chest. Derek's messy hair was damp with sweat, when Chloe ran her hands through his hair. "So I guess this means I won't die now." She said, still slightly breathless. Her cheeks were flushed a bright red and her hair had become slightly tangled.

Derek kissed her long and hard on the lips. "Sealed with a kiss. Now if you die on me, I give myself permission to dig up Davidoff and kick his corpse's ass." He said, any thoughts of forbidden secrets forgotten.

"I love you." Chloe snuggled into his chest, enjoying the warmth, and the feeling of a giant burden being lifted off her shoulders.

"I love you too." He kiss her again and settled into a comfortable sleep.

If only they knew their biggest problems were yet to come.

_**/AN: Okay so... something I forgot to mention in the previous chapter: If you guys see any mistakes grammatical, spelling wise, or words that are missing a letter, or quotation marks that don't look like they're supposed to be where they are, please inform me. Also, please leave a review! Thanks. -Kit/**_


	3. Blood Brothers

_**/AN: And here's the updated, updated version of Chapter 3... I accidentally left something out of the other one... Anyway... Only one more! Yay! I hope you guys like it. :) PS. This chapter has been edited.**_

_**Disclaimer: Nope, I still don't own it. Stop pestering me!/**_

_**Normal POV**_

Everyone was down in the kitchen the next morning, each having gotten themselves something to eat and was talking at the table.

"So did everyone have fun last night?" Kit asked, grabbing the syrup for his pancakes. There were mumbles of "uh huh" and "yes" from all around the table.

"Hey, where's Derek and Chloe? It's a quarter to ten, you'd think they'd be up already." Tori said, chomping on a strawberry.

"I'll go make sure Derek didn't eat Chloe." Simon said. He rose from his seat and headed towards the stairs.

"Um, why would Derek eat Chloe?" Tori didn't get the joke.

"It's a racist werewolf joke." Mason mumbled, slightly offended at the comment.

"Oh…"

x-x-x

Simon headed up the right staircase and up to Derek and Chloe's room. He decided to open the door to surprise them. Derek might get pissed but Chloe would probably get a kick out of it. Simon wasn't prepared for what he saw.

"Oh my god put a fucking sign on the door!" Derek and Chloe shot up in bed to see Simon standing in the doorway. On his face was a complete look of shock and disgust. Derek followed Simon's fixed gaze to Chloe's exposed chest.

Realizing what was going on, Chloe covered herself and hid her face. Derek shifted his focus back to Simon. "Out. Now." Derek growled. Simon ran, slamming the door behind him.

Derek looked back to Chloe, who still had her face buried in the covers. "Is he gone?" She asked.

"Yeah. Are you okay? How do you feel?" Derek asked as Chloe lay back down.

"Other than your brother getting an eyeful of my boobs, I hurt all over. In places I never knew I could hurt." Chloe uncovered her face, laying her head on the pillow.

"I'll go see where Marlee keeps the Tylenol. And I'll murder Simon while I'm at it." Derek kissed Chloe's forehead and got dressed before heading to the kitchen.

When he got there, everyone was already finished with breakfast and was talking amongst themselves. Simon froze upon spotting Derek. "Where's Chloe?" Lucy asked.

"Sick."

"Sore." Simon taunted.

Both boys spoke simultaneously. Derek glared. Everyone looked puzzled. "Go on. Tell everyone what happened last night between you two." Simon said.

"I have no idea what you're talking about, Simon." Derek replied, turning to Marlee who was leaning on the counter beside Kit, in her usual place.

"Derek got laid last night." Simon announced. The faint, ghost of a blush appeared on Derek's face.

"Okay, I'm outta here. I don't wanna hear about Wolfie's sex life. Later." Tori left for the pool.

Lucy fidgeted and Mason held in a laugh. Kit looked shocked and slightly appalled. Marlee looked Deadly and silent. "Is this true, Derek? Have you and Chloe been mated?"

It was Derek's turn to fidget. "Yeah." He replied softly. "Where's the Tylenol?" He asked quickly, wanting to leave the room as soon as possible.

Marlee dug an orange cylinder from her pocket. "I need to examine her. What was yesterday's date?"

Simon checked his watch. "October twenty fourth. Why?"

"October eleventh. This would set a date for July seventeenth." Marlee mumbled to herself.

"What is she talking about?" Simon asked. Derek shrugged, thoroughly confused, trying to find a patter to her thinking. He failed, epically.

"Mind your own business Simon. Kit, I need to talk to you in the lab." Marlee replied as Derek left back to his and Chloe's room. "Lucy meet me there in an hour."

Lucy nodded.

_**Marlee's POV**_

Kit had followed Marlee down to the makeshift lab, confused as she mumbled to herself. "You wanna tell me what's going through your deranged head?"

"If my guess is right, the first day of Chloe's last period was October eleventh. Based on a twenty eight day cycle. The date of intercourse and possible conception was last night. Based on a forty week gestation period, Chloe's due date would be set for July seventeenth of next year."

"So are you gonna do a pregnancy test when you examine her?" Kit asked, arms folded across his chest.

"I could. However, it would turn up negative. The embryo is still just a bundle of dividing cells. It won't be a baby until around eight weeks. We won't be able to do a pregnancy test for at least a week. But it'd be better to wait two weeks." Marlee replied.

"Why two weeks?"

Marlee gave Kit a skeptical look. "And you call yourself a doctor?" Marlee rolled her eyes. "The pregnancy hormone Chloe's body will make when it realizes there's a forming baby there, won't start forming until a week or so after conception. So even with a blood test now, it would still show up negative.

Give her a week. Chloe's breast will become sore, she'll have some light spotting, a headache or two, and that'll be it. We tell her she might be pregnant, she'll think we're crazy. Give her two weeks; she'll have morning sickness, fatigue and frequent urination. She might blow it off as stomach flu until later in the week when she misses her period. That's all I'm asking for is two weeks." Marlee replied.

"So then what are you examining her for?" Kit asked.

"To make sure that the werewolf gene isn't still killing her. And to make sure her body is healthy enough and ready for a pregnancy considering she's seventeen." Marlee replied. Kit nodded. I'm also moving the information in Chloe's medical file. If Derek gets suspicious enough, he might sneak down her and try to look at my notes."

"I wouldn't put it past him." Kit replied.

x-x-x

Half an hour later, Lucy strolled into the lab. She was shocked at how much equipment Marlee had in the basement. "How did you get all of this?" She asked.

Marlee smirked. "Years of practice." She replied.

Lucy nodded. "So, how are we going to do this?" She took a seat beside Marlee.

"Well, I'll need some blood. I need to look at your DNA compared to other werewolves." Marlee said, rummaging in a box.

"Do you have werewolf DNA?"

"Of course. It's in the freezer." Lucy's eyes went wide. "Oh, don't look so shocked." Marlee took out frozen slides from the mini freezer beside her desk. "While those defrost, I need a sample of your blood."

Lucy backed away. "I don't like needles." She said.

"Relax, we don't need any needles for this. Just a lancet. Like the ones used to check blood sugar. It'll be quick and painless, I promise." Lucy relaxed a bit and took her seat again. Marlee took her blood. Just as she said, it had been quick and easy. "Okay, I'll analyze these and if I come up with anything, I'll tell you. If not, don't ask. I'll come to you." Marlee said.

"Okay."

_**Derek's POV**_

After seeing how Marlee reacted to the news of what happened last night, I was determined to find out what was going on. When Chloe had take the pain meds, I laid beside her for a while, rubbing her back.

I had to get Mason to the lab to take a blood sample from both of us. If my theory was correct, Mason and Lucy were my half siblings. I'd have to take a blood sample from Mason to be sure. While we're down there, I'd take Chloe's file and sneak it up to our room to look through. I'd return it when Marlee and Kit were asleep.

As small snore interrupted my thoughts. Kissing Chloe's forehead, I got up and went to the living room. Simon was lying haphazardly on the couch. Mason was laying face down on the floor. Tori and Lucy was nowhere to be seen.

_**Normal POV**_

"Well isn't this an attractive sight?" Derek said, sarcastically. Simon held up his middle finger. Mason groaned. "What's up with you two?" He asked.

"We're bored. What does it look like?" Simon asked.

"We'll lucky for you, I have something for you to help me with." Derek replied, shutting the doors.

"What would that be?" Mason sat up, rubbing his eyes.

"I need your blood." Derek told him.

Simon looked shocked. "When did you get so blood thirsty?" he asked.

"I'm not blood thirsty, Simon. I'm doing a blood test." Derek explained.

Mason grabbed his wrist cautiously. "Are you certified to do that?"

"Would you rather trust Simon?" Mason glanced at Simon.

"No."

"Then don't complain."

Mason sighed. "Let's do it." He replied.

Together, the trio made their way across the main entrance hall to the entrance to the basement/lab. Derek led the way down the steps to Kit's work station. He dug through a plastic container, taking out two sterile tourniquets and two sterile syringes. Digging further, he found two unused vials.

Mason's face paled. "You sure you know how to do this?" He asked, his worried gaze going from the needles to Derek's face and back again. Once again, his right wrist had take refuge in his left hand.

"If I didn't, I wouldn't try." Derek said simply. "Sit."

Cautiously, Mason did as he was told, sitting in a seat in front of Derek. Derek took Mason's right arm, tying a tourniquet just above his elbow. Putting gloves on his hands, he gave Mason a ball to squeeze. Derek took a needle and uncapped it and used his index finger to find a vein. Mason had a horrified look in his eyes.

"You know, watching intensifies fear? Maybe you should look away." Simon suggested.

"And maybe you should back away." Mason let out a growl.

Finally finding a vein, Derek silently took the needle and hooked it up to the vial. Taking the needle, he inserted it into Mason's vein, swiftly and accurately as Mason broke into a nervous sweat.

As the vial began filling with blood, Derek noticed multiple burn and scratch marks across his arm. He decided not to question it, but figured it had something to do with the Edison Group and was probably what triggered his fear of needles. When the vial was filled, Derek removed the needle and tourniquet, placing a cotton ball on the needle prick. To finish, Derek took a sharpie and marked the vial with an "M" for Mason.

"So what are you doing this blood test for?" Simon asked.

"I have a theory." Simon gave him a blank look. "I think Mason is my younger brother. Which would in turn, make Lucy my younger sister." Derek explained. Simon nodded, as Derek followed the same procedure he did with Mason. When he was done, Derek labeled the vial with "D" for Derek.

"Alright, while I'm analyzing these, look in those cabinets for Chloe's file." Derek instructed, grabbing a microscope and some sterile slides. Simon nodded looking to the file cabinets.

Derek took a small baster and plopped a few drops of blood on the slides, as Mason and Simon looked through the file boxes.

After five minutes or so, Simon held up a file that said: "Saunders, Chloe." "I found it!" Simon said, stuffing it in his jacket." He looked back at Derek. "Are you done yet?" he asked him.

When Derek didn't say anything, Simon rolled his eyes. Finally, Derek paused, and smiled. "I was right. We have the same parents." Derek said turning to Mason. "Which would mean we're blood brothers. Not half, as I had originally thought. Which means I have some things to think over."

"What are you talking about?" Simon asked.

"You got your answer. You're not taking anymore of my blood." Mason backed away and he hid his arms.

"I don't need anymore blood, Mason. You can relax. What I'm saying is, you and Lucy grew up in an orphanage, right?" Derek asked.

"Little Bunny's Home for Children; yeah… what about it?" Mason looked as if the memories pained him. Derek thought back to the burns and scars on Mason's arm, but didn't say anything.

"I grew up in the institute with six other werewolf pups. The key question here is, why'd they keep me, but not you?" Derek paused and let that sink in. "You guys go find something do to. I'm going to think about this for a bit and I'll let you know what I come up with. For now, don't tell anyone about my findings yet. Not until I know more. That includes Lucy. I don't want her to know yet."

"You're right, it might confuse her. Or just piss her off. She isn't all sunshine and daisies when it comes to the Edison Group." Mason replied.

"Well, anyway, welcome to the family." Simon said as he turned to Derek. "Let's go back to my room to look at the file."

_**Tori's POV**_

"Are you sure we should disturb her? I mean she's been in bed all day—" Lucy began, as she and Tori stood in front of the door to Derek and Chloe's room.

"Oh relax; she'd do the same to us." Tori said, obnoxiously.

Suddenly, the door opened and a groggy looking Chloe stood n the entrance, fully clothed. "If you guys are going to argue about coming in, I might as well let you in." She said, opening the door further. Tori and Lucy blushed in embarrassment. As they walked inside, Chloe shut the door and eased herself onto the bed. "What do you want?" Chloe asked bluntly.

"We just wanted to see how you were doing after your big night with Wolfie." Tori said, making Chloe blush.

"He told you?"

"Simon did. Tori replied.

"So tell us what happened!" Lucy encouraged, a bright smile spreading across her face.

"And don't skip the hairy details." Tori said.

Chloe told them everything that had happened during the previous night. She paused when she caught Lucy fooling with her fingers. "What's wrong Luce?"

"Yeah, everyone knows you do the same stuff with Simon. And worse, you kinky horn dog." Tori replied. Lucy's face went as red as a tomato, Tori's comment making her squeak.

"No, that wasn't what I was thinking about." Lucy said softly. She looked to Chloe. "Did you two use… um… protection?"

"Jeeze, Lucy! You're such a prude! You have crazy, hot sex with Simon all the time, yet you can't talk about sex and contraceptives with out acting like some innocent school girl." Tori reprimanded.

Chloe's face went blank. "Holy fucking shit." Tori and Lucy paused in their bickering.

"What's going on? You okay?"

"We forgot the condoms." Chloe said simply.

_**Derek's POV**_

When we returned to the room, Simon took the file out of his jacket. How he fit that thing into his small jacket, I'll never know.

We gathered around Simon's floor, Simon on my right side, Mason on my left. "We just need to check Marlee's notes for Chloe's last couple of checkups. The secrecy just started recently." I said. Simon nodded, opening the file.

I inwardly groaned when I saw what was inside the file. Nothing. Absolutely nothing. There was a picture of Chloe, and her basic information, but all notes on previous checkups were gone. Marlee had recently cleaned out the files. "Dammit."

_**Marlee's POV**_

The exam was over. Marlee had been right about the werewolf venom… sort of. It had stopped poisoning Chloe's system. Now it was causing Chloe to have werewolf like symptoms. Over time, her hearing would increase as would her sight and agility. Then eventually, Chloe would complete the change, sometime within the next few months. Marlee sighed. This had just turned into a possible high risk pregnancy.

"You can sit up now, Chloe." Marlee said, helping Chloe up. "Brace yourself for what I'm about to tell you." Marlee paused, letting what she said sink in.

"I… I'm not pregnant, am I?" Chloe asked.

'_Fuck. Does she know?' _Marlee thought. "Not as far as I can tell." Marlee said. Well it wasn't a total lie. "The venom has stopped killing your body. Now instead of killing you, it's gradually making you like Derek. Over the next few months your hearing, eye sight and agility will increase."

"How long?"

"At the rate the venom is progressing, you will complete the change in approximately six to nine months." Marlee said slowly. Chloe stayed silent. "Are you okay?" Marlee asked.

"Is this normal? For werewolf/human mates?" Chloe lifted her eyes to meet Marlee's own.

"As far as I know, this process only happens once every couple hundred years, In case you're wondering, there is no way to stop this new process. Since Derek has gone through this before, the sooner you tell him the better." Marlee replied.

"Is there anything I should be worried about?" Chloe asked, looking at her feet.

"If you were to get pregnant during this time, I would classify it as a high-risk pregnancy. Simply because with the bones rearranging in your body during a change, I'd be worried about the end of a bone rupturing the extended uterus and possibly causing the baby harm." Marlee said.

"Great. I'll remember that. Thanks, Marlee."

x-x-x One week later x-x-x

_**Derek's POV**_

"Do we really have to do this?" I asked Chloe. I didn't want a party for my birthday, but as usual, Chloe insisted.

"Yes! It'll be fun, I promise!" Chloe said, smiling for the first time in days.

She had been hiding something for almost a week. The day Marlee check her, she avoided me until the next day. A few days later, we were making out on the couch and when I squeezed her breast, she winced as if I haven't felt her up before. I'd find out what was bothering her by the end of the night.

Chloe took my hand, bringing me out of my thoughts and into the backyard that was still covered in paint.

Lucy was forcing Simon into one of those cone shaped party hats, and Tori was talking Mason's ear off. Marlee was completely silent, leaving Kit to stand awkwardly to the side. The air was cool again and it was nearing closer to November. It was the twenty ninth so there were two days left.

Everyone greeted us as we sat down. "So we didn't have a whole lot of money for a present from each of us, so we all pitched in and bought a new pair of shoes for you." Kit said.

"Tori noticed yours were getting holes in them." Mason replied.

"Um… thanks Tori. You guys shouldn't have gotten me anything."

"Chloe insisted." Tori said, handing over a large, gray pair of DC's. "In fact, she picked them out."

I took the shoes from Tori. DC's were like a hundred bucks. They shouldn't have spent all the money. I turned to Chloe. "Thanks, babe."

Chloe nodded. I sighed. I was tired of this. I decided to ignore it for the time being and turned to the others. "So, last week I had a theory." This got everyone's attention. "And later on I tested that theory. Upon further research and a couple of blood tests, I found out that Mason and Lucy are my younger brother and sister. And I have a feeling, someone other than myself suspected so." My gaze shifted to meet Dad's eyes. I left out my concerns about why the Edison Group put us in different living situations in the first place. I still hadn't made any advance on a theory about it.

"You're a smart boy, Derek. I'm not surprised you figured it out on your own." Kit said. "Mason, Lucy, I'm proud to welcome you to our somewhat dysfunctional family." Lucy nodded, in shock. This was when I noticed Marlee eying Chloe.

After everyone had a piece of cake, we headed inside and I took Chloe to our room. "I'm gonna head to bed."

I grabbed her hand, and she turned to look at me. "We need to talk."

"Can it wait until morning?"

"No. You've been hiding something and I want to know what it is."

"I—I'm not hiding a—anything." Chloe stumbled over her words, her gaze cast at her feet.

"You're stuttering. You only stutter when you're lying. Tell me, Chloe." I said. Chloe took a big shuddering sigh. "What happened when Marlee examined you?" Chloe said nothing. "Did she… Are you…?" I couldn't finish the sentence. Damn my social abilities.

"No. I'm not pregnant." I felt myself relax, and signaled for her to continue. "Marlee took a blood sample. I turns out, that instead of the werewolf venom killing me, it's turning me into a werewolf. She said it's really rare for it to happen and I'll probably change for the first time sometime within the next six to nine months."

_**Normal POV**_

He didn't say anything. "Derek?" Chloe reached for his hand, only to have him pull away. A tear slid down her face. Derek turned and walked out the door, shutting it behind him.

_**/AN: Okie dokie. There's that chappie done. I'm so glad I got this one edited. I don't know about you guys but there were quite a few mistakes that were buggin' the crap outta me. As always, please leave a review. Thank! :) -Kit/**_


	4. Too Late

_**/**__**AN: Okay so I think the only things that needed fixed here were grammatical. Anyhow, it's fixed so enjoy! PS. This chapter has been **__**edited**__**... a second time.**_

_**Disclaimer: No. Still don't own it./**_

_**Chloe's POV**_

Another week passed. Derek and Chloe avoided each other, Derek opting to sleep on the couch. Chloe's process had begun and her fever spiked every now and then. To add to her misfortune, she had contracted some sort of stomach flu. Tori and Lucy came to visit her multiple times a day.

"That's it! I can't take this moping around anymore. You're getting out of the house! We are going to the mall and getting ice cream and I am buying you and Lucy a shit load of clothes." Tori was in Chloe's face.

Lucy had been rubbing Chloe's forehead with a wet washcloth after Chloe had regurgitated her dinner. "What's the point?" Chloe asked.

"The point, dear Chloe, is to get your mind off of Wolfie and have some fun. I want you to get up off your ass and get dressed." Tori instructed.

"Do I have a choice?"

"No."

Chloe rolled her eyes but got up anyway. After taking a shower, she got her clothes out for the day. From her closet, she dug out an orange t-shirt and a pair of jeans.

Tori gave her a look of disgust. "I'll be back." She said with a roll of her eyes. When she came back, she held in her arms a pile of clothes. "Put these on."

Chloe took the clothes from Tori, seeing what they were, she took one annoyed look at Tori and proceeded to put them on. Tori brought Chloe a gray mini skirt, a white form fitting tank top, and a matching gray denim jacket. "Tori, do I really have to wear this?" Chloe asked, staring at her bare feet.

"I'm not done yet, hun. You can't go to the mall without shoes." Tori began rummaging in the bag that she had brought in, before bringing out a silver pair of strappy gladiator flats and a gray hair band. "Put these shoes on and I'll do your hair and makeup."

Tori had Chloe sit below her while she sat on the bed. Lucy got dressed in the bathroom. Tori took a brush and pulled Chloe's hair to the side, putting in a low ponytail, and sliding in the hair band. "Turn around so I can do your makeup."

"Really, Tori, I don't look good in makeup—" Chloe protested. Tori looked at Lucy's outfit as she came out of the bathroom.

"Ugh. Am I going to have to dress everyone?" After finishing Chloe's makeup, Tori returned to her room to gather more clothes for Lucy.

When Lucy finished dressing, she looked herself over in the mirror. She was wearing light beige cargo pants and a camouflage green shirt. Tori handed her a white hoodie and looked over her work. "There's something missing…" The puzzled look on Tori's face vanished when she found the missing link. Tori walked leisurely out of the room, taking her time. Lucy glanced at Chloe, who shrugged in response. Finally, Tori came back, with two clips in hand. "Pull the sides of your hair back. It'll look better. The dark green compliments the color of your hair." Tori looked from Lucy to Chloe.

"Now that you're both finished, I'm going to go get myself ready." Tori left again. When she came back, her hair was flowing loosely down her back and she was dressed in a lime green halter top and light blue skinny jeans that were ripped slightly at the knees. She wore very little make up.

Chloe looked Tori over. "Why am I the only one wearing makeup?"

"Because you need to get back in the field. Find a new man and forget about Derek. You'll feel much better. Promise." Tori replied.

"Shall we?" Lucy led the way to the door. Reluctantly, Chloe followed. As they neared the bottom of the steps, Tori spotted Derek, Simon and Mason lounging on the couches, talking about nothing in particular. Derek stayed silent, seeming to be in deep thought. He avoided eye contact with everyone, especially Chloe.

Lucy and Tori glanced back at Chloe who had her eyes trained on the floor. "Just hold your head high and act like nothing is wrong." Tori said, taking Chloe by her shoulders. Chloe nodded, taking Tori's advice.

The trio headed down the steps again, just making it to their destination before they were stopped once more. "I hope you weren't planning on going anywhere." Simon had turned his head towards the door.

"And why is that dear brother?" Tori asked in a mocking voice.

"We're on lock down." Simon replied. "Dad's orders. No one is allowed to go anywhere with out an adult escort." Tori groaned.

"Why are we on lock down?" Lucy asked.

"Kit said the security cameras picked up someone lurking around outside for about an hour last night. He's worried they might be part of the Edison Group." Mason replied.

Chloe fidgeted. She could feel Derek's gaze on her back. "Tori, we can just chill upstairs. It's no big deal." Chloe insisted.

Tori grumbled but complied, following Chloe up the steps, Lucy in tow. As Tori passed Derek, she gave him the finger.

_**Normal POV**_

Derek ignored Tori's obscene gesture. "You do realize they'll try to sneak out again." Simon said.

"Of course. What Tori wants Tori gets. Even I know that." Mason replied.

Derek's ear twitched in a dog like way. "They just went through an upstairs window." He informed them.

"Let's head them at the front." Simon got to his feet, walking to the door.

Derek's eyes quickly adjusted to the dim moon lit night. "There." He pointed to the other side of the lawn, where three dark figures were running across the yard.

Simon jumped from his spot, locating Tori, tackling her to the ground. The other two girls stopped in their tracks, fearing the worst. "What are you, my guard dog?" Tori spat.

"Nah. More like your brother." Simon let her up.

"Lock down. Do you need the definition?" Derek glowered, grabbing Chloe's arm.

"Last time I check, you weren't my boss, Derek." Chloe wrenched her arm out of his grasp.

"I'm your—"

"Boyfriend? Last time I knew, you ended that too! Or did you forget? You don't control me anymore. Leave me alone."

"Way to go, Chloe! Tell him who's boss!" Tori cheered. Simon slapped the back of her head. "What the hell was that for?"

"Trying to tell you to shut up discreetly."

Chloe began walking toward the barn where Marlee kept the extra cars, not wanting to be around anyone.

Mason and Simon glanced around awkwardly. Tori turned to Simon. "Can we at least go look for her? We'll bring her back to the house." She said.

"Fine. Go." Simon let Lucy and Tori leave in the way Chloe left.

_**Chloe's POV**_

I looked through the door of the barn/garage thing and saw that two other people were heading my way. The three remaining people, who I assumed were Simon, Derek and Mason, stayed put.

"Are you okay, Chloe?" Lucy asked sitting next to me.

"That fucking douche bag! That insensitive jerk! That chauvinistic pig! I can't believe he'd grab you like that a week after he dumped you! I should light up his ass!" Tori sat on the tail end of the car that Lucy and I were sitting in front of.

"Be my guest." I told her.

"I would but, we have some late night shopping to do." I looked at her, puzzled.

"You mean we're still going shopping?" Lucy jumped up in excitement.

"Of course we are! You think a creepy guy on a camera is gonna scare me away from doing what I love most? Now get in the car." Tori said, climbing into the drivers seat.

"Ooh! Shot gun!" Lucy exclaimed, leaving Chloe in the back seat.

Tori performed an invisibility spell on themselves and the car as she drove out of sight of the house.

_**Derek's POV**_

Derek swept into his room at the end of the hall. He was tired of sleeping on the couch so he had taken up one of the extra rooms.

He missed Chloe. But Chloe would never forgive him for walking out on her when she needed him. Tonight was evidence of that.

The silence of his newly acquired room was driving him mad. There should've been a soft snore, or an incoherent mumble, or laughter… the sound of the shower running… something. The fact was… he missed his Chloe. His mate.

_**Simon's POV**_

Lucy and the girls had been gone for a while. I was getting worried. "Do you think they're okay?" I asked Mason.

"I don't know. I haven't heard anything. Maybe we should look for them?" Mason replied.

"Yeah. Let's go." I led Mason over to the barn. The doors were wide open. "They took the car. Dad said not to let Chloe leave." I started to panic.

"Why?"

"He didn't say. But he was adamant about it. So whatever the reason it had to be serious." I told him.

"I'll get Kit."

_**Chloe's POV**_

The entire ride to the mall was a blur. I kept feeling as if we were being watched. Like it was a very bad thing that we were out. I pushed the thoughts out of my head, too determined to have fun.

We tumbled out of the old Toyota and headed for the entrance through the food court. "Okay. We need to buy stuff that will help us blend in or else Kit and Marlee will kill us even more for sneaking out. So… what's normal?" Tori asked.

Normally, if I heard a girl like Tori ask me, "what's something normal?" my head would've exploded. But in this case, we had been on the run for the greater part of two years and we moved so much that there was no point in subscribing to a fashion magazine. So all three of us were lost in this subject.

"I'm a necromancer. I've never been normal." I told her, for lack of anything better to say.

"I've been goth since I was eleven. I'm less normal than Chloe." Lucy said, shrugging.

"Let's face it, Tori. You're the only 'normal' teenage girl here." I said.

Tori looked around at some of the other girls walking around the mall. Suddenly, a shiver was sent up my spine and beside my shoes little giraffe slippers appeared. "Liz is here. Just pretend like we're talking to each other, don't look excessively to my side and no one will notice." I said. Thankfully since the incident I had with Derek at the china shop, way back when, I've learned to make it look like I'm talking to another normal person.

"Liz! Baby! So good to see you!" Tori looked to my left.

"Other side." Tori switched sides. "Liz says hi." I told him.

"Hi Liz!" Lucy said, jumping on her toes.

"She says, 'hello, again, Lucy.'" I interpreted.

"Liz, sweetheart, you know fashion, right?" Tori asked, looking right at me.

"Of course I do! I can't believe you'd doubt my expertise."

"Chloe, do you have a frog in your throat? Your voice sounds a little like—Oh my god, Liz?" A look of realization came over her face.

"In the flesh! Sorry, Chloe, I just couldn't help it. I was tired of you translating."

"Wait, Chloe's still in there? She can hear us?" Lucy asked.

"Yuppers."

"Shame on you, Liz. Taking over Chloe body!" Tori mock scolded, with a smile on her face.

"Thanks! Dear sweet god, Chloe! What did you eat today? I—I think I'm gonna be sick…" Liz threw herself from my body, swiveling it to the right, before my body promptly upchucked more digested pasta.

When the ordeal was over, I opened my eyes to see a brown haired guy kneeling in front of me, maneuvering around the puke. "You're not a ghost, are you?"

He gave me a weird look. "No. I don't think so." He lifted two fingers to his neck, checking his pulse. "Nope. Definitely still alive. I'm Dylan. Is she gonna be okay?" He asked Tori. Dylan… that name sounded familiar. Where did I know it from?

"Yeah. She just has a bit of food poisoning. And on top of it, she just had a bad break up with her ex. A real jerk. We were trying to cheer her up by going shopping. I guess it was a bad idea, looking back on it. Did she puke on you? If she did, I'm sorry. I can buy you—"

"It's okay. She didn't get anything on me. I'm Dylan Mungovan, in case you didn't catch it before." Mungovan. I definitely knew that name. Who was he?

"Tori Enright. This is Lucy and Chloe. We should probably go and get her home."

"Do you need some help carrying her? It doesn't look like she's going to be able to walk." Dylan said. I couldn't open my eyes to see his face.

A very unpleasant feeling grew in the pit of my stomach, telling me not to trust him. If only I could get myself to my feet…

Suddenly, I felt myself being lifted from the floor and into Dylan's arms. '_I know who you are. I know your secret.' _The voice in my head was low and dangerous.

Quickly, I felt the night air on my face and the disappearance of the noises and lights of mall life. Then I was being sat down in the front seat of the car. With a final slam of the car door we were off.

Tori was babbling away but my brain couldn't form words out of the sounds she was making I opened my eyes just in time to see the head lights speeding towards us. '_Shit…' _was my last thought before everything went black and silent.

x-x-x

_**Derek's POV**_

Dad got to the phone before I did. Marlee had gone looking for the girls about two hours ago.

"Are they okay?"

"Who is it?" Simon asked dad. He didn't get an answer. "D, who is it?"

"I don't recognize the voice, and I can't hear what they're saying. It's not Marlee." I said. Dad's face was lined with seriousness and worry.

"I see. I'll be right over… of course. Thank you." Dad slowly hung up the phone.

"What's going on? Where are they?" Mason was on his feet now too.

Dad ran a hand over his face and his eyes were glistening. "Boys… sit down." Simon and Mason were hesitant, but obeyed. "Derek, please."

There was something wrong, and I was too pumped full of adrenaline to sit or even stand still. "Dad. What. Happened?"

He took another shaky breath. "They've been in an accident." He said the words at a normal pace, but for me it seemed to take him forever to say them. "It was a double hit and run. Tori has a few bruises and cuts. She has a mild concussion and a broken arm. Lucy has a fractured cheek bone and a broken rib or two. They'll both be okay…" Dad's voice trailed off as his words registered in my mind.

"Chloe. What about Chloe?" I couldn't care less about what happened to the others. He wouldn't meet my eyes.

"Derek," he said slowly, "You have to understand, they were hit from behind at ninety miles an hour and on the passenger side at sixty. Their car wasn't moving—"

"What. Happened. To. Chloe? Just tell me." My voice wouldn't raise above a whisper.

"She… was propelled through the windshield… over another car. They found her by a tree twelve feet away from the intersection." He became silent and I didn't have the strength to speak. "Here entire right arm is crushed and she has six broken ribs. The front of her skull is fractured and she has a major concussion. She went into cardiac arrest twice in the emergency room alone and they had to drain her left lung of fluid. Because of that she can't breath on her own, They also believe she has extensive damage to her spinal cord. But they won't be sure until she wakes up."

"Wakes up?" Mason had his head in his hands.

"She's in a coma. They don't know if—"

"I can't… listen to anymore details right now… I just want to know… is she going to be… okay?"

"I'm sorry…" All of us had tears on our faces. I could smell the salt. "There's a ninety percent chance she won't make it. They told me… not to get our hopes up. Even if she does make it…" He couldn't say anymore. He didn't have to. Chloe was gone. It was my fault. And I couldn't take any of it back.

I didn't realize I had fallen to my knees until Simon was beside me. His mouth was moving but I couldn't hear what he was saying. I couldn't focus on his face. My vision began going black around the edges and I couldn't stop it. I didn't want to. My life was over. I honestly hoped I'd never wake up.

_**/AN: And that's it for the editing. For the next couple of days I'll be working on finishing up chapter 5 for you guys. I promis it will be no longer than a couple days... Yeah, I know I've said that before but: :P Review Please! -Kit/**_


	5. Tonight

_**/An: Guys. It's done. It's FINALLY DONE. At an official 15,807 words, I give you: Chapter 5. PS. This chapter has been edited.**_

_**Disclaimer: I own nothing.**_

_**Simon's POV**_

The next couple of days were rough. Tori was constantly crying. She blamed herself for the accident. Her and Derek had gotten into a heated argument about it before promptly shutting themselves away in their respective rooms.

Lucy, due to her concussion, doesn't even remember going to the mall. All she remembered was the argument outside the house before they stole the car, and then waking up in the hospital. Mason hadn't left her side. It's like his brain has completely shut down. He's reverted back to the way he was when he first came to us: cold, distant, silent. Combined with a short temper, he lashed out a lot… kinda like Derek used to.

Dad submersed himself in work along with trying to keep the house in order. Marlee spent most of her time at the hospital, studying Chloe and watching over her. I think mostly she was trying to make sure that the Edison Group didn't show up and kidnap Chloe.

Derek spent most of his time in wolf form outside or on Chloe's pillow. If he was in human form, he was in the work out room hitting the punching bag or he was being sluggish, moping around like he was on auto pilot. Otherwise, he was fighting with Tori.

As for myself, I had visited Chloe once a day within the three days she had been there. I hated going. I wanted to be there for Chloe, but seeing her like that… I'd have that image burned into my head forever.

_**/Flashback/**_

_ As soon as we heard about the accident, we piled into the van. Except for Derek. He insisted that he didn't want to go. Dad knew better than to push him into going._

_ Marlee mat us outside of the hospital. "How bad is she?" Dad asked as we walked up to her. It took her a moment to respond. "Tori and Lucy will be fine. They're getting bandaged up and they can be released as soon as they get their release papers. They're got Chloe in the ICU… Kit, I don't think I can go in there again." A tear slid down her cheek._

_ Mason walked past Marlee, not saying a word. I grabbed his wrist. "Hey, where are you going?" I asked him._

_ He shook me off. "None of your business." Mason continued walking. I walked in front of him. "You're a part of this group. Make it my business."_

"_You don't know me." He tried to move around me._

"_I know enough, Mason. Open up. Let someone in. You'll be miserable if you don't." I stared him down._

"_I'm going to see Lucy. Happy? Now move outta my way." He brushed past me. I watched him go. "He's such a dick."_

_ Dad's eyes softened. "He's just a little misguided, that's all."_

_ Marlee wiped her eyes. "Brat needs to learn some manners."_

"_Derek was working on it before…" I trailed off. "I'm gonna go check on Tori. Make sure she's okay." Dad nodded, but chose to stay outside with Marlee for a minute._

_x-x-x_

_ The nurse said Tori was in room one fifty three. Why the hell were the rooms so hard to navigate? Finally, after about ten minutes I found it and knocked on the door. "Tori?"_

"_Come in." Her voice was soft and strained as if she'd been screaming for too long. I opened the door and sat beside the gurney. There were stitches going vertically on her check and a few more cuts that were bandaged. Her arm was in a lime green cast. "Chloe—is she okay? And what about Lucy?"_

_ I looked at her in shock. "They didn't tell you?"_

"_Tell me what? They won't tell me anything because I'm not family. What happened Simon?" Tori was on the verge of tears._

"_Lucy's fine. Or she will be anyway. Dad said she's got two broken ribs and a fractured cheekbone. I haven't seen her yet, but I'm sure she's awake." I told her._

"_And Chloe?"_

_ I stayed silent. Tori looked away. "She's alive," I started, "but she's in bad shape. Dad said she was propelled through the windshield and over a car. They found her over by a tree on the other side of the intersection. From what I heard, she's in a coma. She's got a bad concussion and the front of her skull was fractured. She also has six broken ribs and a punctured lung, so she can't breath on her own right now. Her entire right arm was crushed. And they think she has a damaged spinal cord, but they won't know unless she wakes up. The doctor said her chances don't look good." I wiped at my eyes. I hated this._

"_Oh god, this is my fault. I was driving… if I hadn't… it's all my fault…" Tori sobbed in my arms. _

"_It's not your fault, Tori. It was a hit and run, you had nothing to do with this." I told her, trying to calm her down._

"_It was my idea to sneak out. If we hadn't left, this wouldn't have happened and Chloe would still be…"_

"_Tori, you have no way of knowing that."_

_ I didn't get a chance to say anything else because a doctor came in and issued Tori's release papers. I waited outside while she got dressed. Dad came up to me. "Does she know?" he asked. I nodded._

"_She's taking it hard. She blames herself for what happened." I replied._

"_It's not her fault, but to hit them that fast, twice… Simon, you know this wasn't an accident. Someone _meant _to kill them."_

"_I know."_

_ Marlee came around the corner with Mason and Lucy who was in a wheelchair in a daze._

"_They said that she needs to stay as still as possible. And she needs to be woken up every couple of hours. The doctors want her to come back for weekly check ups to see how her ribs are healing… but I think I can take care of that." Marlee said looking around nervously._

"_And what about Chloe? Are we just going to leave her here?" Tori walked out, fully clothed._

"_Tori, we have no choice. I don't have the equipment she needs to keep her alive right now." Marlee said, he eyes red and puffy as they were, filled with tears again._

"_Tori's right, we can't just leave her here alone. Someone needs to stay with her and make sure… well, make sure nothing happens." Dad said._

"_I'll do it. I caused this."_

"_Tori, no one thinks that. You can see her tomorrow, but right now you and Lucy need to go home and get some rest." Marlee said._

"_I won't leave her here to die! She's my best friend… I can't."_

"_Victoria Enright, you're going home. And if you don't follow orders, I'll ask the doctor to give you a sedative and I'll carry you home myself." Dad said._

_ Tori scowled. "Don't act like you're my boss. You may be my father biologically but you are _not _my dad."_

_ I watched her go, shocked by what she just said. I looked to dad who was opened mouthed in a "did that really just happen?" face. "Dad, I—"_

"_It's fine, Simon."_

_ I decided to leave it alone and instead change the subject. "Dad, I wanna see Chloe before I leave."_

"_I don't think—" Marlee started._

"_Go ahead and go on up to ICU. I put all of you on the immediate family list so you can go see her. They shouldn't give you any trouble. We'll wait for you."_

"_Thanks."_

_x-x-x_

_ I stood outside her door for what seemed like forever. I finally went in when an old janitor yelled at me for "stalking". When I entered the room I didn't know what I'd expect. Whatever I could've imagined was nothing compared to what I actually saw._

_ Chloe's entire right arm was in a blue cast. It spanned from her upper shoulder all the way down to her hand. The part of her hand that was exposed was a deep purple from being badly bruised. She was wearing a back brace to keep her back straight so she didn't cause anymore damage to her organs from her broken ribs. Her forehead looked just like her hand. Her eyes were closed and she had a tube going down her throat. I inched over to her bed side. "Oh god, Chloe…" I took a seat beside her bed._

_ I thought of the first time I saw her in Lyle House. I thought, "What the hell is this kid doing here? She's like twelve. Could what she have done to land here be so bad?" And then Tori announced that she was here because she saw ghosts and I knew she had to be one of us. Looking back at what we've been through, I never thought we'd be this close. _

_And then she helped Derek… and I kinda liked the idea of her running away with us. After Derek warmed up to her, I knew there was no getting rid of her. In the past two years this girl has become like my sister. It shouldn't have ended up like this. She was the glue to our group. With out her, we'd break away and fall apart…_

"_Is that your girl friend?" A doctor came in to check Chloe's vitals._

_ I let out a small laugh. "No. More like my sister."_

"_Oh. I'm sorry."_

"_Thanks."_

"_You know, I read somewhere that comatose patients can hear you even if they can't respond. I've heard a lot of patients in a coma return to us that way; by having a person they were close to speak to them." The doctor said, when she was done._

"_I'll keep that in mind." She nodded and left._

_x-x-x_

_ When I returned the next day, there had been no change. Marlee had been with Chloe all night so I decided to stay with her while she went home and rested. Tori and Lucy both came into visit. Mason, of course followed Lucy. Derek stayed home in his and Chloe's room. He hadn't been seen all day._

_ I was alone again by six pm, left alone to my thoughts. I thought about what that doctor had said yesterday about talking to comatose patients. "Chloe…?" I grabbed her hand. "Chloe, if you can hear me, can you squeeze my hand?" There was no response. I sighed. No matter what I had to keep trying._

"_Chloe, it's me, Simon. I'm kinda desperate right now, so I'm going to assume you can hear me." I said softly. "Everyone's really shaken up right now. I'd say that Tori's the worst, but then that'd be leaving out Derek who hasn't been seen or heard from all day today. He just stays in your room. I've never seen him like this, Chloe and that's counting all of the years I've known him. I know it sounds really cheesy but I'm worried about him. If you don't make it… I'm worried about him. If you don't make it, I'm worried that he'll… I'm worried that he'll do something stupid._

_ Hell, I don't know what I'd do with out you. What the group would do… You're our glue Chloe. Without you, we'll fall apart. And I'm not just saying that because this may be one of the last things I say to you. I'm saying it because it's the truth. Please, Chloe, please wake up. I'm begging. I need you. We need you…" Nothing happened. She didn't move. Her eye lids didn't twitch and she didn't move a finger. There was no miracle "Holy shit, she's alive!" Hallmark moment. For what seemed like the millionth time in the last two days, I wiped at my eyes and sat back in my chair._

_ At that moment the doctor came in to check her vitals again. "How are you today, Simon?" She asked._

"_No better than I was yesterday, I suppose. Thank you for asking." I mumbled. I went back to trying to draw out our our adventures._

"_You're welcome. So I have to ask, before this happened… did she tell you?"_

_ I looked up from my sketch pad. "Tell me what?" I asked slowly._

"_Tell you that she's pregnant?"_

_ I felt my eyes widen. "What are you talking about?"_

"_When we took her blood for a blood test when she first came in, her hCG levels were off the chart." The doctor replied._

"_HCG levels?"_

"_Human Chorionic Gonadotropin or hCG is the pregnancy hormone. She's definitely pregnant. Until we get an ultrasound, we won't know how far along though."_

_ I looked from the doctor, to Chloe's face, then her abdomen, and back to the doctor. I wiped my hand over my face. How could this situation get any worse? "Three weeks." I mumbled mostly to myself._

"_Excuse me?"_

"_If she's really pregnant it's three weeks old. I'll never get that image of Derek and Chloe out of my mind." I smiled to myself. That was the last time that I saw the two of them happy together. If that was the only image I'd see of them that happy, I'd take it._

"_Well thank you for the information. And I'm sorry you had to witness that. I know how scarring it can be." She laid her hand on my shoulder and walked out._

_ I called dad. "Hello? Simon, is everything okay?"_

"_Did you know?"_

"_Did I know what?"_

"_You and Marlee! Did you know that Chloe was pregnant?"_

_ Dad didn't answer. "Chloe was pregnant?" Lucy's voice was heard in the background._

"_This was a bad time to put you on speaker phone…" Dad mumbled. "Everyone's around. You couldn't have been more subtle?"_

"_Sorry, I panicked. Wait, everybody?" I asked._

"_If you're worried about Derek, he's out back. Everyone else just heard the news." Dad sighed._

"_To answer your question, yes, Marlee and I knew that their was a possibility that Chloe could've been pregnant but—"_

"_A possibility? Dad, how long have you known?" If I sounded pissed, it's because I was._

"_Marlee had a vision the day after we got to the manor. But we couldn't be sure until Chloe found out or not herself. As you know, that didn't happen. The doctor told Marlee, and Marlee told me."_

"_Were you going to tell us? More importantly, are you going to tell Derek? He's the fucking father, he should know!" I replied._

"_No. We weren't planning on telling any of you because of Chloe's condition. We don't know if she's going to make it. In all fairness in a crash that bad, she should've miscarried, any normal person would've."_

"_Dad, Chloe's not normal. You know that."_

"_In any event, none of you are to say a WORD to Derek. He's in a fragile state right now and I don't know how much more bad news he can take." I had a feeling he was talking to the others as well._

"_So what are we going to do?" I asked._

"_There's nothing we can do, Simon. In the unfortunate event that Chloe doesn't make it, the baby will die as well. At this point in the pregnancy, it wouldn't be able survive on it's own with or without medical intervention." I could tell dad was trying to keep his voice level. He's never been good with death. I think that's part of the reason why he left the Edison Group. "In the miraculous even that Chloe does make it… it'll be up to her to tell Derek. IF she's even in any condition to respond or…" I got the gist._

"_Well,I'm sorry I let the cat out of the bag. Can you come pick me up now? I can't stay here any longer." I said._

"_Yeah."_

_ Dad drove Marlee back to the hospital and took me home._

_**/End Flashback/**_

That was the last time I visited Chloe. I couldn't handle going back. No one told Derek about what I had found out.

Derek made his way into the kitchen where I was sitting. Maybe he was going to actually eat something today. Instead he set Chloe's iPod down and slid out the sliding glass door. I watched him slip into the woods behind the house.

I sighed, decided to give him five minutes to change. It should be plenty of time for him. I watched the clock above the fridge with intense interest. When five minutes had passed, I grabbed my jacket and ventured out into the woods where I'd most likely find Derek searching for a Chloe scented object. I kept telling him, the more he sniffed in the scent, the faster it would disappear.

I made my way back to the clearing where Derek would morph. Not surprisingly, that's where I found him, his dark muzzle lifted, sniffing the air. "Derek?" He stalked off, ignoring me. "I really hope you came out here looking for a squirrel to eat." He huffed, making a little growling noise, as if he could scare me. "You've lost fifteen pounds in three days. Don't grumble at me. Chloe wouldn't want to see you like this." Finally, he turned around to face me. His teeth were bared.

"Yeah. I went there." His normally erect ears were flattened back on his head now, clearly pissed off. Good. He deserved it. He was seriously worrying me now. "You haven't seen her at all. Marlee told all of us that the more familiar people her subconscious sensed around her, the more likely she is to wake up. It's a… werewolf thing…" I said the word carefully, knowing how sensitive he was about Chloe turning into a werewolf. Marlee had told us about the transformation soon after our first visit.

Derek barked and snapped at my ankles. "Go home, Simon." The gesture said. "I'm not going home this time, Derek." He growled in frustration and ran for the house. I followed slower, taking my time. I tried to gather what I would say to him. Finally, I made it back to the house. Derek was probably in his and Chloe's room. If he couldn't find Chloe's scent outside, he'd go and lay on her pillow. I'd give him ten minutes to cool down, but I wasn't letting this go.

_**Derek's POV**_

I still had Chloe's iPod in my mouth, being careful not to slobber on it. I hadn't bothered to change back into my human form, so opposable thumbs weren't an option. I put my front paws on the top of Chloe's dresser and carefully slid the iPod into it's home and used my nose to his play.

Afterward, I jumped onto the bed and laid my head on Chloe's pillow.

I don't know why I listened to this song. It brought up unwanted memories. Maybe because it was Chloe's favorite song. Or maybe because when her play list was blaring in my ears, it felt as if she was here next to me. I had no idea. Either way, I felt weak for it, especially when the music began to play.

_**I remember the times we spent together**_

_**All those drives**_

_**We had a million questions**_

_**All about our lives**_

_**And when we got to New York**_

_**Everything felt right**_

_**I wish you were here with me**_

_**Tonight**_

_**/Flashback/**_

_ We had been summoned back to the motel for a reason that I knew I wasn't going to like. Lauren hasn't had a lot of time to play 'over protective dad' on me at the lab. Sadly, it was a role she played well and took seriously. So as we sat down on the couch, I had an uneasy feeling in my stomach. Lauren had sent Simon and Tori out of the room, but I knew they were eaves dropping somewhere nearby._

_ Lauren pulled up a chair to sit down in. "First off, I want to direct this question to Chloe. What the hell are you thinking?" her anger at Chloe annoyed me._

"_That's a broad question. I could be thinking about a lot of things… our victory over the Edison Group or the fact that Derek and I just made our relationship official. Could you be a little more specific?" Chloe asked. That's my girl._

"_Do you know the dangers of even being around a werewolf?" Lauren asked._

"_Well, they're extremely bossy sometimes for one thing. For another, they're as silent as a mouse which makes them the perfect people to give sneak attack bear hugs. Oh! And if they're in wolf form, there's a good chance that you're gonna get licked as well as a tail thump." Chloe said, clearly satisfied with herself. I fought back a laugh._

"_Chloe I'm being serious—"_

"_So am I." Chloe snuggled into my side, as if to prove her point._

"_I know you read his file at Lyle House. You know what he's capable of." Lauren raised her voice a little._

"_Of course I do. He's an amazing tracker, and an even better protector, and an excellent kisser." I didn't know where this new side of Chloe had come from, but I kinda liked it._

_ I watched as Lauren strode over to Chloe and struck her across the face. Immediately, I was on my feet. "Touch her one more time and I swear to god I'll make sure you'll never see Chloe again."_

_ Lauren looked me square in the face. "Don't think I don't know how to put down a rabid dog. Threaten me again and I won't think twice, mutt."_

_ For Chloe's sake, I kept my mouth shut. I didn't have to say anything. My eyes said it all. 'I'd like to see you try, bitch.'_

_ She turned on Chloe again. "Did you forget what he did to you at Lyle House? Did you forget the danger he put you in?" Lauren was still an inch from Chloe's face._

"_He didn't put me in danger at all. I do remember that he told me what I am. Derek was the one who told me I was a Necromancer, while you let me believe that I was crazy."_

"_He almost killed you, Chloe!"_

"_He grabbed my arm a little too hard! That can hardly be called attempted murder! And to add to it, he's saved my life more times than I can count!"_

"_This is madness." Lauren finally realized that she was outnumbered._

"_Nah, this is Sparta." I heard Simon say from somewhere nearby. Tori snickered._

"_If you don't like the idea of Derek and I being together, we'll leave." Chloe stood, taking her hand in mine. Was she nuts?_

"_Where do you think you're going to go, Chloe? Back to your father? He still thinks you're missing. Do you really think running away with your knight in shining armor is going to be all that it's cracked up to be?" Lauren stood again, watching as Chloe strode to the door._

"_Go to hell." With that, Chloe led us out the door._

"_Are we seriously running away?" I asked her. There had to be an ulterior motive. Chloe was smarter than this._

"_No. Just long enough to make the other worry." Chloe pulled a key from her pocket, and hopped into Lauren's car._

"_What is that?" I stared at the key as Chloe shoved it into the ignition._

"_A spare key." Chloe blinked at me. "Are you gonna get in or stay here with Lauren the bitch?" I didn't hesitate as I climbed into the passenger side. Then a thought occurred. She was fifteen. "I didn't know you had your license."_

_ Chloe looked at me with a mischievous gleam in her eyes. "I don't."_

"_Oh, fuck."_

_ For a first time driver, she was pretty good. Lauren's convertible was comfortable. It had white leather seats with a red exterior. I decided not to ask where Chloe was taking me._

_ Finally we stopped in front of a chain link fence with a sign attached that said: "Highbanks Metropolitan Park; Closed." "Chloe, the park is closed." I didn't feel like being arrested tonight._

"_I know." Chloe began climbing the fence. I sighed but followed her._

"_Where are we going?" I asked._

"_A field. Like where people would play Frisbee or fly a kite? Big and open so I can see the stars." For about twenty minutes, we wondered around aimlessly until we found what we were looking for._

_ Chloe let go of my hand and ran into the middle of the field sprawling out on her back. Now surprisingly, the field was near a playground. I hesitated, remembering what happened the last time we were at a playground. I sniffed the air, searching for a scent that was more profound than the others. Finding none, I went to sit next to Chloe._

"_This reminds me of 'The Lion King 2'." Chloe said without looking at me._

"_What?"_

"_Oops, sorry. I forgot you grew up… isolated. 'The Lion King 2' is a kids movie. I'll have to show it to you sometime."_

"_My childhood doesn't have to be taboo. If you wanna say something, then say it. And that movie doesn't sound very entertaining."_

"_It would be if you were six years old." Chloe said._

"_Do I look six years old to you?" I asked. She laughed and muttered no._

"_So what's next?" She asked._

"_You want to leave already?" If there was one word to describe Chloe, it was annoying._

"_No, I mean with out 'adventures' and stuff. Are we going to search for others like us? Are we going to fight against the cabal?" I didn't answer right away._

"_I don't think dad has figured that our yet. I think for tonight, he just wants to relax, now that we're out of immediate danger." I told her. Chloe pouted._

_ I scooted closer to her and put my arms around her. "Whatever happens, we'll fight it. It'll work itself out." Cheesiest line ever known to mankind. Chloe nodded. "Dad did say that our next destination was the Big City."_

_ Chloe opened her eyes in excitement. "New York?" I nodded causing Chloe to squeal in joy._

_**/Reality/**_

_**I remember the days we spent together**_

_**Were not enough**_

_**It used to feel like dreaming**_

_**Except we never woke up**_

_**Never thought not having you here now**_

_**Would hurt so much**_

_**/Flashback — two weeks later/**_

_ We had been living on the outskirts of New York for about a week now. Tori had helped Chloe dye her hair brown. Lauren also took her to find a pair of glasses for her, even though Chloe insisted her eyes were fine. She had come back with a pair that were plastic, rectangular and black. I thought they made her look cute, more mature even. She strongly disagreed._

_ I glanced at the clock on the wall, bored out of my mind. Chloe was searching for a temporary job in the paper while Tori and Simon was watching some reality TV show on MTV._

_ Suddenly two hands covered my eyes. "Yes, Chloe?"_

"_We should go do something." Chloe's hands were replaced by her face._

"_Like?" I asked as she casually straddled my hips._

"_Like as a couple. We've been cooped up all week, and I think we should do something together. So can we?" Damn girl was turning me into butter._

"_I'm for it. We'll have to get Dad and Lauren to okay it." Yeah, right. That was laughable._

_x-x-x_

"_Yeah, sure."_

"_Absolutely not."_

_ Dad and Lauren glared lightning bolts at each other. "Why is it a bad idea for them to go on a date like normal kids? I think they deserve it after what they've been through." I love Kit._

"_There's still people out there looking for Chloe. And let's not forget the people looking for Derek." I hate Lauren; with a cold, undying passion._

"_I'm sure he can take care of himself, Lauren."_

"_I'm sure Derek can. It's Chloe I'm worried about. Obviously, I'm the only one who worries about her."_

_ Chloe, who sat beside me, pinched the bridge of her nose. "If Derek had any intention of not protecting her, she would've died when she got jumped by that girl in the alley back when they were on the run on their own."_

_ Chloe's eyes widened. Oops. Kit let out the big secret._

"_Chloe got jumped?"_

"_No, not really!" Chloe said quickly. "It was just a little street fight—"_

"_If you call a 'little street fight' a knife fight." Tori strode out of the kitchen._

"_You're not helping." Chloe groaned._

"_The point is, Derek saved her life." Dad replied._

"_What did he do? Throw the gang banger into a wall?"_

_ I flinched, hoping no one noticed. Chloe was on her feet beside me. "That's a low blow, Lauren. Even for you."_

_ Dad had his jaw set now. 'Lauren, with all due respect, I've been on the run a lot longer than you have. And I know my boys a lot more than you do. If I say they can go, they. Are. Going. Case closed." Dad rose to his feet preparing to leave._

"_Thank you, Kit." Chloe said._

"_You're welcome."_

_x-x-x_

_ We decided to wait until the next morning to leave. "So what did you have in mind to do?" I asked her as we walked down the streets, hand in hand._

_ Chloe shrugged. "Anything and everything. We could head into town and check stuff out." I nodded and we walked in casual silence into town. The town we were posted outside of had a lot of things in it that would seem normal to a person who had been living there a while. There was a patch of grass where people could sit and freed birds and then there was a small gazebo in the middle of the small round-a-bout. There were tourist shops situated around the round-a-bout. There was an antique shop with those creepy old dolls that you see in horror movies sitting in the windows. There was a bakery, a small grocery story, a computer/electronics store, a small pet store and a big museum connected to a postal office._

"_Aw, Derek look at the dolls!" Oh. Hell no._

"_Chloe… haven't you seen the Chuckie Movies?" I asked her._

"_The killer doll? Created by Don Moncini and directed by like five different people? Of course I know those movies." Chloe said pulling me closer to the creepy antique store._

"_Then why are we going into a shop with like thirty Chuckie dolls staring at us from the window?" Chloe stopped and looked at me skeptically._

"_No. Barbies and the stuffed ones with lettuce for heads are just fine. It's the creepy porcelain ones that freak me out." I said, glancing nervously at the dolls in the windows, their too shiny eyes following my every move. I shivered and hoped Chloe didn't notice._

"_Oh, so Barbies and Cabbage Patch dolls are okay?" I nodded. Chloe rolled her eyes and grabbed my hand. "Come on Wolfie, I'll protect you from th big bad Chuckie Dolls." She dragged me into the antique store. My ears perked up and my nostrils flared, my entire body and mind on high alert. Chloe suddenly stopped abruptly and said, "hey." She laid her hand on my shoulder. "Loosen up. I'm not gonna let Chuckie get you." I smiled._

_ After looking around for about half an hour, we left. "What's that?" Chloe asked as we left the antique shop. She pointed at a store across the street that said, "Loony Luna's Joke Shop." "Is a joke shop unscary enough for you?" Chloe joked._

"_It's perfect."_

_ When we entered the shop, it was empty for the merchandise on the shelves. Chloe walked over to a wall of old TV sets from the nineties. Cautiously, I followed her, my eyes darting all over the place, looking for the seemingly nonexistent life. Chloe looked over one of the TV's trying to figure out how to turn the TV on. Finally, she found the switch. Of course, being a joke shop, the TV was rigged. When Chloe pressed the "on" button, the speakers opened and shot out silly string and the TV screen disappeared and sprayed whipped cream into her face._

_ For a second, I just stared at her while she looked at the TV trying to decide whether to throw the TV across the room or to clean herself off. And then I couldn't keep myself composed anymore. I doubled over with laughter. "Oh, so you think that's funny do you?" Chloe had a look on her face that was as set as it could get when it was covered with whipped cream. Slowly, I watched as she wiped the whipped cream off her face._

"_Chloe, come on… Think about what you're doing. You don't want to put that stuff on my face." I begged, starting to back up._

"_This?" Chloe looked down at the cream in her hands. "This isn't going on your face."_

_ I relaxed. "Thank you."_

"_It's going down your pants." Before I had time to react, Chloe had her cream covered hands in the space between my underwear and my pelvis. Instinctively I shivered, my mind no longer on the emptiness of the shop._

"_Oh my… looks like I'm interrupting something."_

_ Chloe jumped, ripping her hands from my pants. We both turned the voice. "Oh, I see you turned on one of the TVs. I'm sorry. I really should put a sign on the door saying not to touch the merchandise." Before us, stood a short old woman dressed in what looked like an old pirates outfit, minus the pirate part._

"_I'm Marigold." She walked over to us and stuck her hand out._

"_Derek. This is Chloe." She shook both of our hands, not even registering the left over the whipped cream on Chloe's hands._

"_I have a spot to wash up in the back if you want to get that crap out of your pants." Marigold turned to head back from where she came. None of us moved. The old woman looked back at us. "Are you coming or do you want to walk around with that shit all day? I don't bite."_

_ On high alert, once more, we followed her. "So do you run this place by yourself?" Chloe asked._

"_It was my son's back in the day. Then a few years ago, he decided to sell it. I couldn't stand the thought of letting this place go, so I bought it. Since then it's been me and a nice kid from down the street helping me out." As she finished, we stopped in front of a bathroom._

"_Derek, if you wait here, I'll bring you a pair of pants from my son's old things." We watched as the old lady left behind a second door. When she returned, she carried a coupled of wash cloths, a pair of pants for me and a shirt for Chloe. She pointed to a second door. "Chloe, the girls room is to the left, Derek to the right."_

_ When we had changed, Marigold lead us back out to the front. "Dylan! Nice to see you! Did you come to bring in the boxes from the last shipment?" Marigold asked a tall brunette guy who had walked into the shop. The jersey he wore said, "Fifty One Mungovan"._

"_That's what I'm here for." He flashed a smile and glanced over at Chloe._

"_Thank you, Marigold, for the clothes." I grabbed Chloe's hand and we left._

"_So what now?" Chloe asked._

"_It's getting kind of late. We should probably start heading back before your aunt gets pissy." I told her. She agreed._

_ The walk home seemed shorter than when we were leaving. When we finally got to the apartment complex, I stopped Chloe. "What's wrong?" Chloe asked._

_ I took Chloe's hand. "I don't want to go back yet." I told her softly._

_ Chloe turned towards me. "If we don't get back soon, Lauren's going to throw a hissy fit."_

"_She can wait a few more hours." I brought Chloe into my chest._

"_Where are we going?" She asked, her face inches from mine._

"_I was thinking of maybe heading back into the woods for a bit." I said._

"_Kit, they're not out here. I never should have let her go with him."_

"_Lauren, they're out late. It's only eight o'clock. They're teenagers. They're probably off fooling around."_

"_And you're okay with that? What kind of parent are you?"_

"_I never said I liked it. I'm just saying there's no way to avoid it. You get a bunch of horny, hormone driven teenagers together, at least one couple is going to tango between the sheets. You just have to hope when they do decide to get dirty that they're smart enough to be safe."_

_ I pulled Chloe behind a nearby tree. "They're getting closer." She whispered._

_ I nodded, and put my index finger over my lips, pointing towards the woods to our right. Slowly Chloe nodded._

_ As Kit and Lauren came closer, we ran into the tree line, until we both fell from lack of oxygen. I rolled over on to my back and put one of my knees up. Chloe sat beside me laughing. I stared._

"_What are you laughing for?" I asked her._

"_Your face when you heard aunt Lauren's voice! Chloe told me between breaths. She continued laughing. Suddenly, the urge to laugh was overwhelming. Great. It's contagious. When we both stopped laughing, I rolled over so I was almost on top of her._

"_Do you hear something gurgling?" I listened, surprised I didn't hear the sound before now. Must've been the blood rushing through my ears. I stood up and walked a few feet in front of us. A small creek was about five feet away. "It's a creek. If we had run a few more feet, we would've been soaked." I told her, returning to my spot._

"_Do you have a light?" Chloe asked._

_ I felt around in my jeans. Feeling something in my pocket, I reached in and pulled out a cold cylindrical object. "I have a laser pointer."_

"_Red or Green?"_

"_Green."_

"_Perfect. The red bothers my eyes." I handed her the laser._

"_What are you—" Before I could say much else, Chloe pointed the laser at the water, causing the light to reflect on the trees around us. The light reflected the water on our faces. "It's beautiful…"_

"_My aunt taught me that the summer before I was shipped to Lyle House. I like how it looks. It feels like you've been thrust into a dream, but you're awake."_

_ I kissed Chloe full on the lips. The timing seemed right and the light was perfect. "We should get back to the house…" Chloe said between kisses._

"…_Yeah. Your aunt is going to have my ass in a sling." I stood and offered my hand to help her up._

_ When we finally walked into the apartment, Lauren was waiting for us. "Where the hell have you been? Did you get ambushed? Were you attacked? Did he hurt you? Did he pressure you? Chloe rolled her eyes and walked into the kitchen. "What did you do to her? Did you rape her? Why isn't she talking to me?"_

_ Like Chloe, I didn't feel like dealing with Lauren. "Goodnight, Lauren." I turned to Chloe. "Goodnight, Chloe." I kissed Chloe again and headed up to the room I shared with Simon and Dad._

_ The apartment was small. Only two bed rooms. Simon and I shared the smaller room. We shared an old bunk bed. Simon took the top bunk for obvious reason. Putting larger people on the top bunk is a bad idea. Dad sleeps on a small pull out cot. There isn't much room for anything else so we're pretty much living out of suitcases._

_ Tori, Chloe and Lauren have a bigger room. Tori spent about a hundred dollars on three twin sized air mattresses. They had enough room to keep the beds and a small dresser to keep their things in. The apartment also came with one full bath and a small kitchenette._

_ I was asleep for a few hours before I heard the door to our room creep open. I opened my eyes to see Chloe standing in the doorway. She was wearing a spaghetti strap tank top and boy shorts._

"_Chloe?" I whispered._

"_Can I sleep with you tonight?" I know what she meant, but she blushed at the similarity of the phrases none the less. I glanced at dad and listened to the pattern of his and Simon's breathing. They were both sound asleep. I nodded and scooted over so Chloe would have more room._

_ Chloe scooted in beside me and kissed my lips. I wrapped my arms around her, covered up and big her good night._

_ Around four am, I was startled awake by a loud noise right next to my head. I wasn't the only own. When I opened my eyes, Lauren was holding a baseball bat at her side. There was a hole in the wall next to the bunk beds._

"_What the fuck?" Simon rubbed his eyes, confused._

"_Lauren, what are you doing in here? It's four in the morning." Kit looked at Lauren again._

"_Chloe, get the hall away from him." Chloe didn't move._

_ Kit could see us fully now. I could tell he wasn't going to go psychotic on us like Lauren, but he wasn't happy. He was sitting up now, and was pinching the bridge of his nose. "Simon, to the kitchen. Derek, Chloe, outside. Now."_

_ Mechanically, we did as we were told. As I started out the door, Dad stopped me. "Derek, put some pants on." I grabbed some sweats and continued out the door._

_ I met Chloe outside. Lauren and Kit had yet to make it there. Finally, they both made it outside. "Do you have anything to say for yourselves?" Kit asked._

_ I shrugged. "Chloe got scared and came in. We were sleeping and Lauren gave into her psychotic tendencies." I replied simply._

"_Chloe what the hell are you thinking? And I want a straight answer this time." Lauren was struggling to keep her voice under control._

"_Oops?" Chloe replied._

"_Oops?"_

"_Yeah. As in: 'Oops, I didn't mean for my psychotic aunt to find me sleeping in my boyfriend's bed.'"_

"_Chloe, I know this seems like you and Derek are going to last forever. But you're teenagers. It's going to end."_

_ Chloe folded her arms. "Lauren, stop."_

_ Lauren ignored Kit. "If you don't stop this foolishness, you're going to be lured in by his words. He's going to say all kinds of things to get your trust him."_

_ I clenched my fists. Chloe had averted her eyes to the ground. "Lauren. I'm serious. Shut. Up."_

_ Kit touched her shoulder, but Lauren ignored him._

"_I love you, you're beautiful, I want to spend the rest of my life with you, anything to get inside your pants."_

"_Derek's not like that." Chloe blinked._

"_They are all like that, Chloe. And you've fallen for it."_

"_Lauren, I'm not going to say it again." Kit stepped back._

_ Still Lauren pressed on. "Chloe, you're going to wake up one day and find yourself pregnant. And the moment Derek finds out he's going to want nothing to you with you or the bastard child that you will have so foolishly created. You'll be alone and heartbroken."_

_In a flash, I had Lauren up against the wall of the complex by the collar. "I would _never _take advantage of Chloe. I would _never _leave her."_

"_I warned you." Kit told her. "Derek. You're angry. I understand. But you have to let her go." I dropped her to the ground._

"_While it's wrong what Lauren sad to you both, I must agree. You have to sleep in separate beds. Is that understood?" Kit said firmly._

_ I nodded._

"_Yeah." Chloe wiped at her cheeks._

"_Excellent. Now, let's all go to bed."_

_ Lauren lifted herself from the ground, never taking her eyes off me. "Touch me again and I'll inject a syringe of air directly into your bloodstream in your sleep." I glared. She wouldn't have even been able to get near me without waking me up._

"_Aunt Lauren?" Chloe had walked up to us. Lauren turned her full attention to her niece. She probably expected an apology. Damn, she's conceited._

_ And then out of nowhere, Chloe smacked Lauren across the face. "You. Are. Not. My. Mother. You have _no _right to tell me who I will and will not have sex with or who I can and cannot date. My father believes me dead, my mother has been dead since I was seven, and I have been betrayed by you more than once. I have been taking care of myself for the last six months. So please tell me, Lauren: What gives you the right?"_

_ I stared, wide eyed and silent. Lauren was still for a while. "You're not my little Chloe anymore…"_

"_I haven't been anyone's Chloe for a long, long time. Goodnight, Lauren." And with that, Chloe walked away as if nothing had every happened. Chloe turned to me. "Are you coming in?" She asked._

"_I think I wanna sit out here for a bit. I need some fresh air." I told her, kissing her softly._

"_Come and get me if you need me." She said._

"_I will. Goodnight. I _do _love you." I told her._

"_I know you do. I never doubted it. I love you too." We kissed again and I sent her off to bed._

_ Lauren had left at least five minutes before, so I was left alone. Two minutes later, I felt someone behind me. "How much did you hear, Simon?"_

"_I heard Chloe tell Lauren off. But that's pretty much it."_

_ I nodded. "Where's Tori been in all of this?" I asked him._

"_Asleep. I don't see how though. When Lauren swung that bat, I thought the house was going to fall down."_

"_She was probably too lazy to get up." I retorted._

"_So what about Chloe and Lauren?"_

"_Lauren can go to hell. I don't care what she thinks. I'm serious about Chloe. I love her." I laid down on the grass and heard Simon sit next to me._

"_She's got you wrapped around her little finger doesn't she?" he asked._

_ I nodded. "It's more than that though." I hesitated. "I think she's my mate."_

_ Simon sat up. "Are you serious?" I nodded." Then you have to tell her. I don't want to think about what may happen if you don't." I nodded in agreement._

"_I can't do anything with Lauren around. And after tonight, I don't think she's going to be letting us out of her sight for a while."_

"_I'd do it anyway. Just to piss her off." Simon said._

"_I would if Lauren wasn't a bitch. If I tried anything at this point she'd take Chloe and I'd never see her again." I replied. The idea made my blood boil._

"_Chloe's a fighter. She'd find a way to get free and come back to you."_

"_That's what I'm afraid of. You know how she is. She tends to get herself into trouble, and I don't want her to get hurt."_

"_I feel yah, bro. Listen, I'ma head back to bed. I'll talk at you later." With that, Simon yawned and left._

_**/Reality/**_

_**Tonight I've fallen**_

_**And I can't get up**_

_**I need your loving hands**_

_**To come and pick me up**_

_**And every night I miss you**_

_**I can just look up**_

_**And know the stars are**_

_**Holding you, holding you, holding you**_

_**Tonight**_

_**/Flashlight/**_

"_You have ten minutes to get out there and say what you need to say, D. I can't be responsible for what Lauren may do if she finds you two." Simon said watching our backs as Lauren pulled out of the drive way. I had left telling Chloe about our mateship alone for the last two months. Under the watchful eyes of Lauren, there just wasn't much of a time to tell your girlfriend about anything._

_ I grabbed Chloe's hand and together we ran towards a clearing we had found in the woods. I needed to change soon anyway. "Okay there's a lot I need to tell you in only ten minutes so bear with me." I paused for half a moment to let this sink in._

"_In the wild, wolves will fight for a female. The female will become the mate of whoever wins. Wolves mate for life. Sex, pups, dating etc. Only with that one wolf. It's the same thing with werewolves. In a normal pack if there are two alphas who both want the same female, they'll duel for mateship._

_ The mating will be semi-official only after a male bites his female. This will cause a psychic bond between the mated pair." I paused to take a breath. "A human won't notice the bite. To them it will simply look like a hickey. A trained supernatural or another werewolf will know what it is. A supernatural won't be able to do anything about it. A respectable male werewolf will notice the mark and realize she's a mated female. A less respectable werewolf will take her for his own. The psychic link between the original pair will be destroyed and a new one will be formed in it's place between the new pair. So it isn't permanent._

_ To complete the mateship bond…" I hesitated, "the pair must make love to each other. A supernatural won't know the difference. A werewolf will know to stay away. The second psychic bond cannot be broken, not even by death. If one dies, the other won't want to mate with someone else." I paused again to take a breath. I looked around for any sign of Lauren._

"_Why are you telling me this?" Chloe asked. I jumped, hopefully unnoticeably._

"_I've done a lot of research… and I think you're my mate." I said it slowly, almost as if I was trying to convince myself._

_ After what seemed like forever, Chloe had said nothing. "Chloe?" In the next moment, I felt Chloe's lips on mine. When she broke away, I stared. "I'm not sure I know what to make of that."_

"_It means that I'm your mate and I love you." She kissed me deeper, removing my shirt from my body. I ran my hands under her shirt and up her back. I paused to take her shirt off. "I don't want to go too far. I don't think I'm ready and we won't have time; Lauren will be back any minute." I nodded, breathing in her scent, my face in the crook of her neck. "Bite me." I brought her legs around my waist._

"_Brace yourself." I buried my face in her neck again and paused for a minute before sinking my teeth into her shoulder. The skin on my arm rippled and itched and I felt my body begin the change. _

_ Suddenly, there was a blazing crack followed by searing pain to the side of my head._

"_Lauren!" I turned around slowly and saw Lauren angrily holding a baseball bat. My vision was slightly blurry but I could also see Simon's silhouette running towards us in the distance._

"_You justed fucked with me on a very bad night." I forced the change within two seconds and pounced on Lauren. My clawed paws held her arms and legs in place, my muzzle two inches from her face._

"_You wouldn't dare." I snorted. _Try Me.

"_Sorry, bro. I tried to stop her." Simon knelt next to Chloe._

_ Suddenly, I felt someone lay their hand on the base of my neck. "Derek, this won't go unnoticed, but you need to release her. Tori, binding spell." There was a dark haired girl next to me. I felt Lauren go stiff under me. Mildly satisfied, I stepped off of Lauren and walked over to Chloe and examined her. The spot where I'd bitten her, was still bleeding. I slid my tongue across the surface, staunching the flow of blood so it would heal. When I was satisfied that she was okay, I licked her cheek._

"_I love you too." Chloe replied._

"_Lauren, you have gone out of control for the last time."_

"_He bit her!"_

"_It's part of their mateship."_

"_Their… mateship?"_

"_They're mates, Lauren. You would have known that if you would have paid attention."_

"_I will not accept this! He's dangerous!"_

"_Lauren, Derek has done nothing but protect Chloe. If this is how you're going to react to the natural process of Derek's lycanthropy then I think it's best if you should leave."_

"_Fine. Chloe, let's go." Lauren got up to leave. I looked at Chloe and shook my head in Lauren's direction. _You can go with her. I'll be fine.

"_I'm not leaving you." She whispered. Chloe didn't budge._

"_Chloe? Let's go."_

"_I'm staying here, Lauren. I'm staying with Derek."_

_ Lauren's face became enraged. "You're under eighteen. I'm your legal guardian. If I say you have to go, you have to go."_

"_Actually, Lauren, by admitting Chloe into Lyle House, you put her under the legal guardianship and into the hands of the Edison Group. And since you technically resigned, and I am still technically a member, Chloe Saunders is legally under my guardianship. And I say the decision is Chloe's. If she wants to stay, she stays." Kit said. I love that man._

"_Fine. Just know Chloe, you're choosing him over your family." And with that, Lauren left._

"_Somehow, I'm okay with that." Chloe said._

_**/Reality/**_

_**I remember the time you told me**_

_**About when you were eight**_

_**And all those things you said that night**_

_**That just couldn't wait**_

_**I remember the care you were last seen in**_

_**And the games we would play**_

_**All the times we spilled our coffees**_

_**And stayed out way too late**_

_**/Flashback/**_

_ About a month after Lauren left, we had infiltrated about three or four cabal bases. Out of the twelve people we had rescued, no one wanted to stay with us and fight back. It was their choice but still, it was frustrating. They insisted they wanted nothing wanted nothing more than to move on. Two of the people we rescued refused to believe us about being supernaturals._

_ Tonight we were on a run to rescue a hostage. Tori was in the tech room, shutting off the cameras. Simon and Dad were outside waiting for their all clear from Tori. And Chloe and I were pretending to be janitors on break… in a broom closet. Chloe was keeping Liz on the look out and I was the muscle._

"_I feel like when my old babysitter locked me in the basement of my old house." Chloe said._

"_Why did she do that/"_

"_Because she was cruel and heartless."_

"_That's really… vague." I told her._

"_She said that she wanted some soda or something, I don't exactly remember. I was four." She replied._

"_That reminds me about when I was around that age. Davidoff had locked me and the other werewolf pups in our bunk room for the night. We were allowed to do whatever we wanted as long as we were in bed with restraints placed._

_ There were only six of us total. Zack, Tyler, Matt, Damon, Liam and myself. Well one night, one of the new nurses slipped up and left Damon's restraints way looser than normal. Once the lights had gone out and we were sure Davidoff and his minions had gone for the night, Damon wiggled out and released us._

_ He convinced us that we should break out and destroy the lab. Damn being the self proclaimed 'alpha', everyone followed his lead whether we wanted to or not, including me. Believe it or not, I was once smaller than most._

_ Together, we broke the lock on the door, and made our way to the lab. The only people around were a security guard or two, and usually they were asleep on the job. The other pups found the Genesis two files and burned the records. By the time we had gotten back, the guards had no idea what had happened and Damon had tied us back into our restraints. Don't ask me how he made sure he was restrained because I'll never figure it out._

_ When morning came, Davidoff returned with vengeance. He checked the tapes and discovered that only Zack, Tyler, Matt, Damon and Liam had committed the deed. I had sneaked into the kitchen to get a snack. Before the end of the day, all five of them had been terminated. Not even a week later, Kit took me home with him and Simon."_

_ Chloe was silent for a while. "Did you ever know your mother or father?" She asked._

_ I had to think for a moment. "Kit gave me a picture of my mom once. I've got her eyes. I guess I've got my dad's hair. It's definitely not my mom's. Hers is brown. As for an actual memory of my mom, I can't remember anything."_

_ Chloe nodded._

"_Dumbledore to Greyback. Do you read? Over."_

"_Greyback to Dumbledore, I read you loud and clear. Over." I rolled my eyes at Simon's silly code names._

"_How's Helena holding up? Over."_

"_Doing well. Has Ariana fixed up all the cameras? Over."_

"_Ariana has done a perfect killing spell on all the cameras. Over."_

"_Ariana to Greyback and Helena Ravenclaw: It's time to move! Over: Tori came over the walkie talky._

"_Liz, is the coast clear?" Chloe asked to what looked to me like a broom in the corner. A few seconds later, after a guard passed, Liz confirmed that it was safe to exit the closet. Finally after Chloe tripped over the ghost broom, we were running down the hall. Simon met us at an intersection of hallways._

"_Change of plans, we only have time for the medical wing. No time to explain, just go." Simon pushed us left into the west wing._

"_Where's Tori?" I asked._

"_Camera room. Making sure that she can't see us." Simon replied._

_ The medical centers in the cabal bases were different than a normal hospital. All of the patients were kept together in one room. Simon and Chloe went around checking pulses. I searched the room beside it. When I decided that the room was empty, I decided to check out the door in the back. Simon came up beside me. "They're all dead. Have been for at least two days."_

_ Chloe was silent beside him. "I'm gonna go check out that door. Don't follow unless I say." I kicked down the door and entered the room. Empty. "Davidoff. Finally come back for me? My patients have already died. So why did you finally come back?" Or so I thought. I lifted a flashlight towards the voice. In a dark corner of the room, there was a blond, greasy haired woman laying on her side. Her hands and feet were bound and she could barely hold her head up. I ignored her incessant mumbling and untied her. "What's your name?" I asked._

"_You should know my name, Kyle. I've only worked for you for the last fifteen years." She said. I carried the blond in my arms and exited the room to find Simon waiting for me and Chloe watching the door. "She's alive, but she's hallucinating. Simon we've still got a couple bags of saline from our last run right?" he nodded. "I think we're going to need it." We made our escape just as the police arrived._

_ Tori held open the door to the back of our van as we all jumped in. "Did you get her name before she passed out?" She asked._

"_No. She was hallucinating. All I got from her was that she's been working for the Edison Group the last fifteen years and she thought I was someone named Kyle." I replied. I set down the blond and took the saline from Tori. We always kept one in the van for emergencies. It took me a while to find a vein because she was so dehydrated but I was able to hook her up to a drip regardless._

"_She's a fucking employee? Derek what the hell were you thinking?" Tori screeched. Dad stopped the van and looked back at me._

_I rolled my eyes. "Damn, does no one trust my judgment? I was thinking that they left her for dead. Bound her up and put her in an abandoned wing and left her patients there to die. Clearly she was of no use to them anymore."_

"_Derek, you understand that if this goes south, it's your responsibility?" Dad asked. I nodded. "Alright."_

_x-x-x_

_ Two days later, after rehydrating the blond and letting whatever drugs that were in her system dissipate, she regained consciousness. "Where am I? Who are you? Damn it are you going to tell me anything or not?" she asked._

"_You're safe. In a camp just outside of town." Dad sat on the edge of her bed. Simon was positioned in front of the door in case she tried to escape. Tori was checking the mystery woman's vitals the way I had showed her to. Chloe and I were on either side of the bed at the end._

"_My name is Christopher Bae. But I prefer Kit. I'm a sorcerer. My son, Simon Bae is also a sorcerer." Kit nodded to the door. "My other son, Derek Souza is of the werewolf breed. Behind me is Chloe Saunders, our only necro that we've seen."_

"_Unfortunately." Chloe grumbled, rolling her eyes._

"_I told you how rare it was to find a necromancer." Simon grinned. Chloe stuck her tongue out. Dad continued. "And the young witch checking your vitals is Victoria—"_

"_Tori,"_

"_Tori," he corrected, "Enright." He paused for a moment. "Now that you know who we are it's time to tell us who you are."_

_ The blond sighed. "My name is Marlee Hasich and I'm a shaman. I was held at the base against my will. Kyle Davidoff, Marcel Davidoff's son, ran the place. When I found out that he was experimenting on children—babies… I wanted out. It wasn't what I signed up for. Kyle was pissed and he tried to make me reconsider. He bribed me with all sorts of riches and material items. When I refused, he lost his patience and locked me in a cell forcing me to tend to his failed experiments. It's been abandoned for the greater part of a week. Knowing Kyle, he's probably out looking for you right now. You dumb ass son over there probably tripped the security wire." Marlee shot an annoyed glance at Simon. Simon, in an instant went from looking strong and warrior-like to sheepish and embarrassed. The shamaness rolled her eyes. "In any case, we need to leave. Soon."_

"_Tori, how's her vitals looking?" Dad asked._

"_She'll live." Tori replied._

"_Excellent." Dad turned back to Marlee. "Since you already know about the supernaturals, we'll just go ahead and ask. We're forming a resistance and as with any resistance, there's strength in numbers. You have the option to either join us or go off on your own."_

_ Marlee looked around at the five of us. "Are you it? The entire 'resistance'?" She asked._

_ Dad nodded. Marlee stayed quiet for a few minutes. "Considering your numbers are so small, I have no choice but to join your ranks. Plus if there's a resistance, I'm joining." Marlee replied. "And as for a new place to say, I have plenty of places big enough for ten more people." Simon scoffed. Marlee glared. "Let's just say I've been waiting for this day for a long time… And that my family was filthy rich and since they're all dead, all of their giant homes and their money went directly to me." Simon shut his mouth. "I suggest we put as much distance between ourselves and this place as possible. So the first house is located deep in the rocky mountains. It belonged to my great, great, great, great grandfather in the early eighteen hundreds when the pioneers headed west. My uncle owned it until he died. He left no descendants."_

_x-x-x_

_ The trip to Marlee's house was long. The only stops we made were to get gas for the van. I guess Dad was determined to get to Marlee's as soon as possible. Finally, around nine in the morning, about three to four days after our departure from camp, we stopped in a hilly forest. We piled out of the truck, taking in the scenery around us. The building in front of us was a nice sized house. Bigger that a house but smaller than a mansion._

"_The house has six bedrooms and three and a half bathrooms. Feel free to explore. Chloe, my great aunt and uncle did die in this house. I don't know if their ghosts lingered or not, but I do remember them complaining about the spirits of small children." Chloe nodded a thanks._

_ I approached her as she walked towards the house. "I'm going to find a place to change if you want to join me." I told her, grabbing her hand. Chloe nodded._

"_Sorry, I forgot. Sleeping in an SUV for three days will do that to yah." She said._

_We walked hand in hand into the brush. After five to ten minutes of walking, we weren't able to find a clearing, but we were able to find a space where the trees were far enough apart that I didn't have to worry about thwacking my arm on a tree or my tail bashing Chloe in the face. (It was stronger than it looked.)_

_ It was getting continually easier to change and only took a couple of minutes this time. When Chloe was satisfied that I was okay, she took a rope we used to increase my speed and aim with my mouth. Normally I would've accepted her suggestion but this time, I shook my head. After being cooped up for three days we both needed exercise._

_ I stuck my ass in the air and crouched my front to the ground, covering my eyes with my paws. "Okay, so you don't want the rope." I whined softly to tell her she was on the right track. "Okay, then what?" I lifted a paw and put it down again, repeating the motion. "Eyes?" I stared. _Really? "_Blind? Blind fold?" I laid my ears flat on my head. _No. _I stared to slink off but when Chloe began to follow me I let out a low growl telling her to stay put. I hit behind a tree._

_ Finally, after five minutes, Chloe came looking for me. "Derek, why are you hiding behind a tree?" I barked and stuck my ass in the air again. God, I hated acting like a dog. Chloe stared at me in confusion. I pawed at the ground three times. "Three words." I nodded and hid behind the tree. Chloe found me. "I'm not going to keep playing Hide and Seek with you Derek. Be more — Oh. You want to play hide and seek?" I nodded. _Finally! It was about damn time.

"_Wow. I'm an idiot. Okay, base is the driveway. You hide." She put her head on a tree while I ran off. I'd have about five minutes before she found me, so I hid behind a nearby boulder. As if on cue, I heard her tell tale foot falls behind me. I waited about three seconds before I bolted for the driveway._

_ As usual, I let her win. We retreated to the woods for another round. I lay in the brush and covered my eyes with my paw while she hid. After the required ten seconds, I let out a bark to let her know I was coming. I sniffed her out and in a matter of seconds I was chasing her._

_ I could hear dad, Marlee and Simon at the house. "Has anyone seen Derek and Chloe?" Simon asked._

"_They're not in the house?" Dad asked._

"_No. Last time I saw them they were by the car." Simon said._

"_Chloe wouldn't go looking for ghosts would she?" Marlee asked._

"_No. Chloe tries to avoid them. Trust me." Simon replied._

_ I heard the front door open and close. Ahead of me, Chloe had reached the drive way. I kept running._

"_Derek, you can't do this! I'm on base!" Chloe's expression was mixed between horror and amusement. I jumped and tackled her to the ground. Beneath me, Chloe was laughing. Marlee was asking if this was normal for us. I assume Simon told her that it was because nothing else was said about it._

_x-x-x_

_ Three weeks later, we were awakened by Kit and Marlee after spending a night playing truth or dare. "Wake up kiddies! We're going out for a day on the town."_

_ Chloe moaned. "Does anyone mind if I sit this one out? I don't feel too good."_

_ My arm shot up. "I'll stay with her."_

"_Okay, but everyone else needs to get dressed." Dad said._

_ Chloe and I fell asleep while everyone else was getting dressed. I heard Dad yell that they were leaving as they slipped out the door. When I finally decided to look at the time, Dad, Marlee, Tori, and Simon had been gone for three hours. It was noon. I stretched and yawned hoping that Chloe wouldn't stir. She didn't. I brushed hair out of Chloe's face. "Chloe it's time to wake up." This time she opened her eyes. "How are you feeling?"_

"_Great. I just wanted to sleep in." I smiled and sat up, pulling Chloe with me. As she got up to take a shower, I scanned the room, looking for something to do. Not having any luck, I laid back on the couch, laying my arm over my eyes. After laying there for about forty minutes I began to worry. Did her showers always take this long? I made the journey upstairs to our conjoined bathroom and knocked on the door. "Chloe? Are you okay?" No answer. I opened the door and found Chloe naked and dancing to her iPod. "Chloe?" I guess she felt a cold draft because when she turned around she looked surprised._

"_Souza you peeping tom!" Chloe covered herself the best she could and threw the nearest object._

"_Shit." Before I could duck, a blow dryer hit the side of my head. I backed out of the room as quickly as possible and went back down to the couch. I checked for blood as I nursed the side of my head. There was none. It had only hurt my ego. At least I knew she could aim with accuracy. Finally Chloe came down and sat beside me. "You're not going to throw another blow dryer at me are you?" I asked, sneaking a glance her way._

"_No. I'm sorry." The look on her face was that of sincere regret. "Is your head okay?"_

_ I nodded. "For now."_

"_I really am sorry." She said._

"_You're forgiven." I kissed her forehead and retreated for the bathroom._

_ After my shower, I found Chloe in the kitchen looking for something to eat. I gravitated her way, grabbing a box of pancake mix. "Pancakes?" I asked. Chloe smiled in response._

_ Chloe looked at the directions. "Eggs, milk, and flour." I retrieved the ingredients. I was an okay cook, so I hoped I didn't make a fool of myself by ruining a simple pancake. Unfortunately, the first egg I picked up, slipped out of my hands and onto Chloe's foot before I knew what was happening. Chloe and I stared, wide eyed at the yolk that had now seeped through her toes. "EW!" You're so gonna pay for that!" She grabbed a handful of flour and threw it at my face. I ducked just in time._

_ I thought I was in the clear until I felt something cold, wet and slimy plop onto my head. The flour had been a trap. Chloe was just trying to get me low enough so she could drop eggs on my head._

"_Okay. Fair's fair. I dropped an egg on your foot so you drop three eggs on my head."_

"_Oh, I don't think so. Because of you I have to shower all over again." She grabbed a handful of flour and shoved the entire thing on my head._

_ I grimaced. "Have you seen my hair lately?"_

"_Yes and it looks quite lovely on you." Chloe smiled innocently._

"_Oh, thank you. And since we're acting so nice and proper, perhaps I should share my good fortune with you." I stood and grabbed some of the floury egg mix from my head._

"_Derek, you wouldn't!" Chloe backed away, fearfully._

"_Nah. I would." I smiled As I moved forward, she ran around the kitchen table and into the living room._

"_Derek, stop! I didn't mean it, honest!" She was laughing through her panic as she hid behind the couch. I threw the messy glob when she peeked to see if the coast was clear. It hit her on the forehead before she had time to duck. Chloe wiped the slimy concoction from her eyes. "You… filthy, werewolf… bastard!"_

"_Why, thank you." I took a mock bow._

_ Suddenly, Chloe burst out in a laughing fit. "What?" I looked at her. "What's so funny?"_

"_Your hair!" She said between laughs. I looked at her like she'd grown a second head as Tori and Simon strolled through the door._

"_Derek, you head looks like a duck's ass." Tori said as she strode into the kitchen._

"_What happened in here?" Kit said as Marlee observed the damage._

"_It's a long story." Chloe had finally stopped laughing so hard._

"_Both of you, get cleaned up. We have an emergency raid. Also, pack up everything. We aren't coming back."_

_x-x-x_

_ With in the hour, we had all piled into the van with all of our raid gear and belongings. "What exactly is this raid for? And where is it?" Dad had failed to mention either of these things._

"_We spotted two teens on our way out of town in a junk yard." Marlee replied._

"_Okay, and you're sure they're not just runaway?" Chloe asked._

"_The girl was talking about why the 'crazies' wanted them. She wondered if it was because her special abilities. We're almost one hundred percent sure they're from the Genesis Project." Kit confirmed._

"_With any luck, they'll still be there." Marlee replied._

"_It's gonna be cramped with all of our stuff in the van." Tori mumbled._

"_We'll manage." Kit told her. "It they're in trouble we need to help them."_

"_I didn't say I didn't agree that we needed to help them. I just made a statement that it's gonna be cramped…"_

_ We arrived at the entrance to the junk yard. Dad turned in his seat to face me. "Derek, you need to stay here. I saw a few strays in there and you don't want to piss them off." I was slightly annoyed but I understood the need for me to stay behind._

"_Tori team up with Marlee and Simon team up with Chloe. I'll go on my own and scout out the perimeter. Stay together." Dad handed out the walkie talkies and they set out._

_ I waited for five minutes. Just because I understood the need for me to stay behind didn't mean I was going to listen. I'd just be careful._

_I hopped out of the back and locked the car. I bent low to the ground and picked up the scents that had been left behind. Chloe and Simon went straight and off to the left at the first intersection of run down buildings. Marlee and Tori went straight and off to the right. Dad had gone immediately to the left. There were two scents that were similar must've been the Genesis Two survivors._

_ I decided to follow Dad and give him back up. I didn't smell any sort of dog nearby at all, but I decided to keep my eyes open… just in case._

_ I kept low. If the Edison Group was around I didn't want them to know. The junkyard was a maze of abandoned tires and trash in piles around abandoned buildings. I still didn't see Dad anywhere. Or anyone else for that matter. I hadn't heard anything from the girls over the radios and my paranoia was getting the best of me. And then I heard Tori scream._

_I jumped and heard Simon yell, "Move!" from across the yard._

"_Shit."_

"_Derek! Get the doors open, quick! They've found us!" Simon's voice cam over through the radio. I ran back towards the entrance only to be cut off by a guy I'd never seen before. He had dark, greasy hair and was dressed in a band t-shirt with ripped jeans._

"_What are you waiting for? MOVE!" Shoved him towards the entrance to the yard. We ran until we were again cut off by someone else. "Fuck."_

_ We turned around looking for an escape only to find that we had been cornered by another Edison Group member. "Derek Souza. Hm… what an interesting find." One of them help up a needle filled with hell knows what. I glanced around looking for a way out only to come up with nothing. And there were too many to take on with just the two of us. They knew we were coming._

_ Then suddenly, one of them fell unconscious to the ground. I looked and Dad had knocked the guy out with the hilt of his gun. He shot the other two and moved us along._

"_I've got you covered! Run!" He pointed his gun at the other two goons._

"_What about the girls? Simon?"_

_ Dad shoved me back a few feet and dodged a needle, shooting one of the doctors in the head causing blood to splatter everywhere including our faces. "Derek, go!" I ran, knowing that it would be unless for me to stay with Dad if the van was locked. Someone ran into me from around a corner and knocked me over._

"_Derek?"_

"_Chloe?"_

"_Lucy" The guy next to me hugged the girl. "How did we get separated? I swore you were right behind me!"_

"_LET'S MOVE PEOPLE!" Marlee yanked us up and moved us towards the entrance. Tori had already picked the lock on the van and was bossing everyone around. I swiveled around and looked for dad and jumped into the back of the van, when I saw him round a corner and exit the junk yard and climb into the passenger seat._

"_If there was ever a time to drive, it'd be now."He looked into the side view mirror and struggled to catch his breath._

_ The drive out of town was unbearable silent. I'd fucked up. I could've ruined the entire operation just because for once in my life, I refused to follow orders from a man I have always obeyed. Always seen as my superior, and ultimately my protector. But that was why I had risked it, right? To give my Dad back up? Or maybe Chloe was rubbing off on me and I decided to do my own thing. I inwardly sighed. Bad Derek. I needed to fix this._

"_Dad?" He turned to face me. "I'm sorry I fucked up." Jeez, was that the best I could do? Curse my social abilities, or lack thereof._

_ He sighed. "It's not entirely your fault, Derek. I should've known that making you stay behind on a run would drive your protective instincts insane especially when there were so many people that you care about participating in the run. But at the same time, you disobeyed orders and that won't be easy to overlook the next time I give you a command. How will I know if you're going to stay put? How will I know if you're going to disobey orders and jeopardize the mission?"_

_ Somehow, he always managed to make me feel like a spanked puppy, but I have to admit: it got the point across. "I guess you'll have to trust that you raised me to know when I need to risk it all to save it all." I replied, the ghost of a smile playing on my lips despite the fact that I was being completely serious. He couldn't expect me to always follow orders if someone was in danger._

_ Dad let out a small laugh. "Yeah, I guess I will." He looked at the rest of our group. "Well, I guess I will." He looked at the rest of our group. "Well, I guess introductions are in order." We went around explaining who we were and what our race was._

_ The blond girl was snuggled up next to the dark haired guy. They looked as if they'd been on the run for weeks. "I'm Lucy Clarke. I see ghosts and have empathic abilities."_

_ Chloe, who had been snuggling into my chest, jumped. Her eyes lit up. "You're a Necromancer?" Oh, no. Chloe had found a ghost buddy. Chloe explained the definition of a Necromancer._

"_Um, I guess so."_

"_What about you?" Chloe directed the question to the dark haired kid sitting beside Lucy. He didn't give an answer. Barely glanced up from his shoes._

_ Lucy made a face. "You'll have to excuse my anti-social bitch of a brother. He's not very friendly until you get to know him." The guy glared, but didn't say anything._

"_This is Mason. He's a werewolf. We both have the gene but I guess mine is recessive or something. We actually looked this up from a file we looked at a while back. So this one didn't come as a shock like my necromancy did."_

_x-x-x_

_ Six months passed. We were on the run again. Tori's security camera picked up someone lingering around the house for the past week. Dad decided that it had been enough time and that we were leaving._

_ During the last six months, Lucy and Simon started dating. Mason didn't know if he liked that. I guess Simon went in to check on her a week or so ago and she was just stepping out of the shower. Simon was caught off guard and about to leave when Mason walked past her room and saw the scene unfold._

_ I heard the fighting and went to see what happened. Apparently, Mason thought that Simon was "fucking" Lucy. First off, I hate that word. I know I'm a guy and all and supposedly guys use the word "fuck" a lot when referring to sex, but I think it's disrespectful. You don't "fuck" a girl, you either have sex with her, or make love to her and no matter what you respect her. That was one of my big pet peeves._

_ Secondly, Simon was just as freaked out. I'm pretty sure he's never seen a girl naked except for the dirty magazine that we found in Dad's room when we were around ten years old. Lucy, who's the only girl that I've met that's as comfortable as she is with her body, wasn't embarrassed at all, except for Mason who jumped to conclusions and attacked my brother. Ever since then, Mason is convinced that Simon and Lucy are hooking up. I don't know if it's true or not. It's none of my business._

_ Tori has taken a liking to Mason. What for I wasn't sure. They've talked a few times, stayed together alone in the house, went on double team raids together and things like that. Mason doesn't seem very interested in her._

_ Chloe and I are better than ever. We showered together the other day. It was just a shower. I hadn't brought up sex since I claimed her as my mate. It'd happen when it happened. I wasn't in a big hurry._

_ I think Dad's forgiven me for the most part for my botched back up attempt when we rescued Lucy and Mason. All in all I've come to the conclusion that Marlee, Lucy and Mason have made great additions to the team._

"_Hey all, we're stopping for gas." Dad called back to the rest of us. We'd down sized a lot. All we really had now was a back pack for each of us, our raid gear, and Marlee's medical supplies that we'd been gathering up on raids. Dad pulled into a Speedway._

"_Hey I'm gonna grab a coffee from Starbucks, you want anything?" Simon said, coming up to me and Chloe._

"_Yeah."_

"_Hey, I'm just gonna stay out here and enjoy the moonlight." Chloe said, turning to me._

"_Alright. I'll be back." I kissed her and followed Simon into the store. I tuned my ears to Chloe's position to make sure nothing happened to her in the five minutes I was gone._

"_Hey, sexy." I heard a guy's voice. Oh, hell no. I kept myself calm._

"_Uh, hi." Chloe didn't sound too enthused._

"_Aw, come on babe. Don't be like that."_

"_Don't touch me. Leave me alone." Chloe raised her voice a little, and I heard her feet start to move away._

"_Hey, no bitch walks away from me!" Where the fuck was everyone else?_

"_Simon," my voice came out ridged and choppy. "Slowly turn around and look at Chloe. There's a guy with her and he's giving her issues. How bad is it?"_

"_Who the hell?"_

"_You can't tell what he looks like?"_

"_No, he's got his hood up. Hold on bro, sit tight. I'll go check it out." Chloe hated it when I came to her defense with jerks. In the last two years or so, she'd learned to defend herself well._

"_Chloe, is there an issue with this guy?"_

"_No, Simon. He was just leaving."_

"_Who the fuck are you?" The other guy asked._

"_Her bodyguard. Does it really fucking matter? She said leave her alone you leave her alone." Simon replied._

_ I sneaked a peek. I couldn't see the guy's face._

"_If you know what's good for you, you'll back off." Hoodie pulled a gun. I'd had enough and walked out the door. Simon muttered something in Latin and a heavy fog came between him and Chloe and the other guy. I heard a gun shot and Chloe went down._

"_CHLOE!" before I or Simon knew what was happening, he had taken her around the corner and Simon was left dazed and confused. "You go find Dad, I'll find Chloe." I took off without another word._

_ I followed the blood splatter on the ground as well as Chloe's scent to the back of the Speedway behind a dumpster. I found the guy pinning her down trying to unbutton Chloe's jeans. "Back away." He looked up but not enough to see his face._

"_Seriously? You too?" He sighed. "Come on man, can't you let a guy have his fun?"_

"_Simon went easy on you. Gave you a chance to leave and forget this ever happened. I'm only going to ask you one more time. GET. OFF. MY. GIRLFRIEND."_

_Hoodie shook his head. "Fine. You wanna watch? Be my guest." He started pulling at Chloe's jeans. I saw red and jumped, hitting the guy's face. I held him down and reached for the gun he laid carelessly to the side. I shot him in the leg hoping that'd be enough to keep him down. He's lucky that Chloe was my only priority. I knelt down next to her._

"_Chloe? Are you okay?" She was on her side now, sobbing her hands shaking by a blood stain on her right thigh. "Shit." I looked for any other blood marks that might've come from her. When I didn't find any, I picked her up bridal style as Dad and Marlee came around the corner._

"_What happened? Is Chloe okay?"_

"_Some dick face kidnapped her and tried to rape her. She's been shot in the leg." I said. I still had adrenaline coursing through my veins. "Someone needs to take her. I need to blow off some steam." Dad took her from my arms._

"_We need to get that bullet would looked at. Judging by the side of the blood stains on her jeans, it didn't hit a major vein or artery but we don't want infection to set in. Get her to the van, Kit. I'll be there in a minute." He nodded._

"_Derek where's the guy that attacked her? Did you see his face?"_

_ I shook my head. "He had his hood up. I didn't see—" Pain exploded throughout my lower calf. _That bitch shot me!

_ I twisted from my spot on the ground in time to see Marlee shoot at something in the darkness. She turned around and helped me up onto my good leg. Everybody was already packed up. "I gave Chloe a Valium from your stash, Marlee." Kit said. He looked towards me. "What happened?"_

"_Bastard must've had another gun on him. I wasn't expecting it." My words came out in a growl._

"_He needs immediate attention. Help him to the van and let's get out of here."_

_**/Reality/**_

_**I remember the time you sat**_

_**And told me about your Jesus**_

_**And how not to look back**_

_**Even if no one believes us**_

_**When it hurts so bad**_

_**Sometimes no having you here**_

_**I sing — Tonight I've fallen**_

_**And I can't get up**_

_**I need your loving hands**_

_**To come and pick me up**_

_**And every night I miss you**_

_**I can just look up**_

_**And know the stars are**_

_**Holding you, holding you, holding you**_

_**Tonight**_

_**/Flashback/**_

_ The bullet wound wasn't bad. Marlee said that because of my werewolf gene it barely penetrated. The hardest part was getting the damn thing out. I'm lucky that it didn't splinter. After Marlee closed up the wound and gave explicit directions not to move it around too much, I crawled over to Chloe. "Is she gonna be okay?" I asked._

"_She'll be fine. I used my last pair of gloves on you so she'll have to wait until we get to our next base. That Valium should keep her pain levels under control until we get there. Just keep her calm. Talking to her might help." Marlee said. "Oh, and she might be a little… well, you'll find out."_

"_Hey, bro." I looked at Simon. "I'm sorry, man I tried. Really. I—"_

"_Simon, it's okay. Shit happens. No one got seriously hurt so don't blame yourself." I turned back to Chloe. "Chloe?"_

"_Hm?"_

"_How're you feeling?"_

"_What the hell did Kit give me?" She asked, her eyes out of focus._

_ I smiled a bit. "Very powerful pain meds."_

_ Chloe laughed out right. "Greeaat… stuff." Oh, god. She's high._

_ I thought a moment. I didn't want her to go completely out of it. "Chloe tell me a memory. Any memory."_

_ She tried to look at me. "Like what?"_

_ I paused. "Do you remember your mom?"_

"_My mom?"_

"_Yeah. Tell me about your mom. What do you remember about her? What was unique about her?"_

"_Church. Dad didn't like it, but Mom used to take me to church every Sunday. She told me about Jesus and how he died for us. She told me that if anything was wrong to pray and let Him handle it. I never really got into it. Church wasn't my thing. I only went because Mom wanted me to. After she died, I never went."_

_ We talked some more before she became less coherent. She ended up drifting off to sleep after a while and I joined her soon after in dreamland._

_**/End flashback/**_

The moments that Chloe and I spent together repeated over and over in my head. Something told me she wasn't coming back. My paws over my ears, desperate to know that she'd be okay, I took a chance. For the first time in my life I prayed. I prayed that if she couldn't return to me, that she'd at least be safe in the after life. Numbly, I morphed and grabbed my pants off the ground and turned off the iPod. I couldn't bear to listen to it anymore. I sat on the bed and stared at the floor.

"Get up." I looked over to the doorway to see Simon standing there with his arms crossed.

"Leave me be, Simon." I didn't look up.

"No. I'm not backing down this time, Derek. This isn't healthy. You need to see her. You need to get away from this room."

"Chloe's dead, Simon. I'm not going to see her. I can't."

"Can't or won't?"

"Get. Out. Simon."

"Damn it, Derek! What the fuck's your deal? Do you think you're the only one that cared about her? The only one who loved her? News flash, dumb ass, I loved her too! We all did. You're not th only one in her life. Get that through your thick fucking skull because you're not the only one who's been hurt by this. We all blame ourself for it. Every single one of us. So stop being so god damned self pitying and get over yourself. Stop acting like your life is over because of this. And before you write off Chloe and decide never to see her there's something you should know…" Simon sighed. I was shocked into silence. Simon had never talked to me this way before. He was really upset.

Suddenly we heard Tori and Lucy scream from downstairs. Mason ran out of his room. I heard them rum up the steps — well Tori mostly — but I couldn't make out what they were saying. "What the fuck's going on now?"

Tori waited for Lucy at the top of the steps. They both had smiles on their faces. I was confused. "Would someone please tell me what's going on? What's with all the screaming?" Simon asked. Ha. He was one to talk.

"Chloe's alive!" Tori said.

"Okay. What's new?" Mason said.

"No, I mean she's awake! She woke up! Marlee just called, she's okay!"

"Oh shit, seriously?" Simon jumped in the air and gave a victory yell. I don't think I've ever seen him this happy.

Tori looked at me. "She's asking for you."

I didn't know what to feel. What to think. I had seriously hurt her before the accident. How was I going to make that up to her? I smiled for the first time in days. It didn't matter right now. I had my Chloe back. My mat. Everything in the world was made right again. The only thought in my head was:

"Chloe's awake and alive."

_**/AN: Hey, guys. You guys wouldn't believe how relieved I am that this chapter is done. It took me a year to do it but I did it. I really hope you guys enjoyed it, and I'm REALLY sorry about making you guys wait so long for it. I hope it was worth the wait. I don't know when I'm going to update next, but I promise it will be soon. As always, please take a minute to review. Thanks! -Kit/ **_


	6. Awake and Alive

_** /AN: Hey everybody! So, I don't know if I told all of you or not, but I'm working on writing this story into a new notebook, because the old one was falling apart. I said I wasn't going to update until then, but I figured after waiting so long for the last chapter – and since I have no clue when I'm going to finish copying everything into the notebook – you guys deserve an update. So with out further ado: Chapter Six: Awake and Alive. PS. This chapter has been edited.**_

_**Disclaimer: I wish I owned it. But I don't./**_

**Derek's POV**

Dad let us take the van down to the hospital. Tori, Lucy, and Mason stayed at the house with Dad. We were doing a three man rescue. Marlee decided that because Chloe was healing so fast and the doctors were becoming baffled, we needed to get her out of the hospital and back the to the house. Now that Chloe was awake and breathing on her own, Marlee had the equipment to take care of her properly.

Simone drove. Mostly because I couldn't sit still. I had never felt this… giddy before. The ride was mostly silent. And then I remembered that right before we got the call about Chloe, Simon said he had something to tell me that he deemed important. "Hey, Simon. What was it that you were going to tell me about Chloe?"

"Huh? What are you talking about?"

"When you were yelling at me a few hours ago. You said before I write Chloe off that there's something important that I should know. What was it?"

"Uh… I don't think it's my place to say."

"What changed with in those last few hours?" I asked.

"Look, I'm not going to tell you. I wasn't even supposed to know in the first place and then—"

"Know what, Simon? What are you not telling me?"

I watched as Simon twiddled with his thumbs on the steering wheel. "Just, talk to Chloe. She's the only one that can tell you. I'm not going to spill the beans again."

"Again? How many more people know?" Simon stayed silent. "You're fucking kidding me, right? I'm the only one who doesn't know this big secret?" I ran my hands through my hair.

"Like I said I wasn't even supposed to know. And then I freaked out and called Dad and he had me on speaker phone. It's not my fault that you were outside when I fucked up." I rolled my eyes as we pulled into the hospital driveway.

I sat in the seat for a few minutes. "Are you gonna be okay?" Simon asked.

I looked at him. "Yeah. I'm just.. Nervous. What if she's still royally pissed at me? I don't know how to fix walking out on her like I did. What if… what if it can't be fixed?

Simon thought for a moment. "The way I see it, Chloe woke up and asked for you. I don't think she'd do that if she planned on ripping your throat open. Just, talk to her. Apologize. That's the best advice I can give you."

He handed me the walkie talkies we used. "I'll stay here until you guys are ready. Take your time."

I nodded and opened the car door. "Thanks."

"Oh and Derek? Don't walk out on her again. Even if it's to think. I turned out badly last time. I don't think we'll get so lucky again."

"Noted." I headed towards the hospital. Marlee met me at the entrance of the ICU. To my surprise, she hugged me when she saw me. Now I knew something was up. Marlee touching people affectionately? Mason's more likely to do that and he's a hedgehog. "How is she?"

"Better. She can breathe on her own now and by my calculations at the rate that she's healing, her arm should be healed. She's still very weak and she's very emotional right now. Just take your time. She really wants to see you." She pulled me in for another hug. "When you're ready, send a redbird to Simon. He'll call me and we'll get things started." I nodded.

_**Chloe's POV**_

I wiggled my toes. It was nice to be back in my own body again. I was afraid I wasn't going to be able to get back. When I went into a coma, I ended up in the spirit realm where Liz found me. She helped me get back into my body. She's also the one who informed me of my pregnancy.

Liz disappeared while I kept trying to get back into my body. Turns out she was spying on the doctors that had been taking care of me and over heard my blood test results.

I sighed and twiddled with the bed sheets. Derek had been a big distraction for me while I was trying to return to the earth plane. Our mate link must've been strong because I had left his emotions over the past few days. And the flashbacks of our life over the past few years kept holding me back. He's lucky I even made it back at all. Liz said the longer my spirit stayed in Limbo the more complicated it would be to get out.

I heard a know at the door and looked up. "Come in." Derek cautiously came through the door and came close to the end of the bed, shoving his hands in his pockets. "Hey." I said. I winced slightly, my throat still sore from the tube.

"Hey." His voice came out as almost a whisper. Well. This isn't awkward at all. "I—" He paused. "I'm sorry. I wasn't there when you needed me. And I may have reacted badly to the news you shared."

"You think?" I said sarcastically.

He sat on the end of the bed. "To be honest, I was in shock. It wasn't something that I had expected. I left to think. I didn't leave because I was pissed off. But the way I avoided you the week after was uncalled for. And for that I'm sorry too. I'm just bad with people—and I know that's no excuse—"

"No. It isn't."

He sighed. "Chloe, if there is anyway that I could fix this… or take it all back, I would. I love you and that will never change—"

I leaned forward and kissed his lips briefly before pulling away. "You're forgiven." I laid my forehead on his and crawled into his lap. "There's nothing you need to fix." Derek snuggled his face into my neck, breathing deeply.

"I missed you." He whispered.

"I missed you too." We sat like that for what must've been forever. I was almost asleep when I felt something wet on my shoulder. I swiveled and looked at Derek. "Hey, I'm here now. I'm not going anywhere, okay?" I hugged him around the neck as best I could with the cast on my arm. I'd never seen him like this… it was scary.

"I thought I'd lost you, Chloe. I didn't know what to do with myself anymore. I was just… numb." He said holding on to me like a child who'd been separated from his mother for too long. He sobbed silently into my shoulder.

"I'm sorry…" I squeezed my eyes shut, willing them to stay dry. "I'm so sorry. I never should've left the house. I was just pissed off and upset. I wasn't thinking clearly."

Derek took a breath and pulled away slowly, furiously wiping at his eyes. "It's not your fault. I should've know you were going to get into trouble. You always do." He replied with a smile. He sighed as if trying to gather his thoughts again. "Okay. We need to get you out of here."

"What are you talking about?"

"Marlee said if you stay here any longer the staff is going to get suspicious with how fast you're healing. So she wants to move you back to the house now that you're not on the brink of death." Derek said. He pulled a walkie talkie out from his jean pocket. "Simon, RedBird C1. Over."

"RedBird C1 copy that. Moving in. Over." Simon's voice came in through the static.

"You're seriously doing a RedBird on me?"

"What do you think C1 stands for?" He asked. "Did you get amnesia too?" he replied light heartedly. I rolled my eyes.

"Redbird" was our term for a rescue. "C" stood for Chloe and "1" meant one person. And they were deemed the most important, dangerous, and the top priority.

Marlee came in and brought some clothes. "Put these on." She handed me one of Derek's black t-shirts and a pain of lounging pants. After Derek removed my IV, and helped me into the new clothes, we walked out quickly, hoping no one would notice.

"It's cold out." Derek wrapped his jacket around my shoulders. A police car with it's lights on drive past. "We're not moving fast enough." Derek picked me up and ran across the parking lot to the van, slamming the door open and jumping in after me. Marlee was already there. "Simon, let's go."

When we were finally out on the open road, Simon looked in the rear view mirror at me. "It's nice to have you back, Chloe."

I smiled. "Thanks, Simon. I'm glad to be back." The rest of the ride was silent. I was still sore from the accident and wanted nothing more than to get this cast off my arm and relax. Derek held me in his arms the entire ride. At some point he fell asleep as did Marlee and I was left talking to Simon.

"So how are you feeling?" He asked tentatively. Marlee told me that Simon had found out about the baby.

"About the same as I was a week ago… but then again, I haven't been awake long enough to really notice anything else either." I paused. "Does Derek know?" I asked, softly.

Simon shook his head. "No. I think he suspects, though. He's not an idiot, though these last few days might say otherwise." I raised a brow. "The only reason he's asleep right now is he's finally letting his body rest. All he did while you were… out, was prowl around in wolf form, hit a punching bag or listen to that god damned iPod of yours. He didn't eat, he didn't sleep… It wasn't fun to watch. So now that he knows you're okay, he's allowing sleep. Mind you, he'll probably be following you around like a lost puppy for the rest of your life."

I giggled at that. "Yeah that sounds like Derek." Finally we pulled into the winding road that led to the manor.

"When are you going to tell him?" Simon asked.

"Tonight. As soon as I get him alone. He needs to know."

Simon nodded. "Good. I suck at keeping secrets."

I laughed. "I'm guessing you're the reason everybody knows?"

I caught Simon's sheepish smile in the rear view mirror. "Guilty as charged." I rolled my eyes in amusement.

As Simon pulled into the driveway, Derek woke and we climbed out of the car. "Chloe, if you'll come down to the lab, I'll get that cast off for you."

My eyes lit up. "That'd be great, Marlee. Thanks." Derek grabbed my hand as he led me to the house.

"Be prepared for a barrage. Lucy and Tori just about went crazy." Simon said, coming up behind us.

"Especially Tori." Derek said.

I gave a confused look to Simon. "Don't ask. All I'm gonna say is they've had it out with each other enough the last few days to last a life time."

Marlee unlocked the door. "We're home!" She called. Those two words seemed to work magic on the seemingly empty house. Lucy and Mason came down the steps… well Mason walked. Lucy ran… sorta. Tori came out from the kitchen and Kit ascended up the lab steps. Tori and Lucy attacked me in a group hug.

"Oh my go, Chloe. I'm so sorry! I'm never driving again. Ever. Ever. Ever." She half sobbed half yelled into my shoulder.

"Tori, it's fine. It wasn't your fault." I hugged her and tried to get her to calm down.

"Chloe you almost died and I was driving. I'm taking responsibility, the least you could do is forgive me."

I shot a "help!" look to Simon. "I told you so," he mouthed.

"Tori, it wasn't your fault." I replied firmly. "But if it'll make you feel better, I forgive you." I said. Tori gave a shaky sigh and pulled away, wiping her eyes.

"Kay. I can die without any regrets now." She said. I smiled, and looked to Lucy who was still holding onto me.

"Luce, I missed you too, but I need my arm back." I said, with a laugh.

Lucy pulled away. "Sorry. I just… wanted to make sure this wasn't a dream."

"Welcome back," Kit said, finally. I looked to Mason who had taken a spot beside Lucy. He nodded as if agreeing with Kit's statement.

"Alright give the girl some air." Marlee commanded. Mason seemed much obliged and sauntered off to another room. Lucy and Tori lingered but backed off. Kit returned to his work in the lab. "Chloe, there's not a lot of room in the basement so I'll bring the saw up here." Marlee said, leaving for the lab. I nodded.

Derek grabbed my hand once more and led me to the couch in the entry way. "So… what's up with Mason?" I asked, noticing that he was a tad more stand offish than usual.

Lucy averted her eyes. "Chloe, it's not you he's upset at… he's just… upset at the world. I'm the only thing he's got and when the accident happened he just back tracked all of the emotional and social progress he's made. I think it's because he doesn't want to get close to anyone else… and this was just too much of a close call." Lucy explained.

"Oh…" Finally, Marlee came in with the saw. It looked like an electric pizza cutter. Marlee plugged it into an outlet on the wall.

"Chloe just hold your arm out and relax." She said. I did as she was told and in a matter of minutes, I was free to move my arm again.

I flexed my arm, my elbow, my wrist. It felt amazing! "Good as new. Thanks again, Marlee."

She gave a small smile. "Anytime."

I looked at the clock on the wall. It was only five pm. But I just wanted a bath and to sleep. "As much as I've missed you guys, I'm still recuperating and I really just want to take a bath and rest for the rest of the day."

"Well don't let us stop you," Tori said, waving me away. "Shoo. Go get some rest. We'll be here when you get up."

Lucy agreed enthusiastically. "Yup. We aren't going anywhere."

Simon came in from the kitchen. "We're still on lock down. Go sleep. Doctor's orders."

"Alright, alright, I'm going." I replied, halfheartedly.

Derek helped me rise off the couch and walk into the other room. "I'm gonna take a bath. You need to eat." Derek opened his mouth to protest. "I don't want to hear it. You got tattled on, so I know you haven't eaten in days. So eat, and _then _you can join me."

"Damn you, Simon…" Derek mumbled. Derek kissed me and retreated into the kitchen.

I slowly made my way up the steps to our room. I walked into the bathroom and let the tub fill, using the time to grab an old shirt of Derek's and a pair of underwear and some sweatpants. When the tub filled, I stripped my clothes off and stepped into the tub.

It was like an indoor jacuzzi. There were turbo jets in the sides and the tub was so deep that I could probably swim in it. I sat on the ledge and marveled at the warm water. When you've been on the run for as long as I have, simple things like an awesome bath tub become a luxury.

I was deep in my own little world when I heard a knock on the door. "Hey, can I come in?" Derek's voice came through the door.

"Yeah, but be warned: I'm naked." I replied.

"It's not anything I haven't seen before." He said as walked in.

"You're welcome to join me," I told him as he began undressing.

"I planned on it." Derek climbed in next to me.

The silence lingered for a minute. Well, it was now or never. "We need to talk." I said.

Derek nodded. "I'm listening."

I took a breath. "When I was in the hospital the doctor took a blood sample. As soon as I woke up, they told me something important." I paused and sighed. "I'm pregnant."

A small smile formed on Derek's face. "I know."

I started blankly at him for a minute. "You… what?"

"I figured it out when you were in a coma. All I needed was confirmation." Derek pulled me onto his lap and wrapped his arms around my waist.

"How did you manage that? You ignored me for a week." I replied, still not allowing myself to relax against him.

"Just because I wasn't talking to you doesn't mean I wasn't paying attention. You skipped your cycle and could barely keep anything down. At first I thought it was just because you were stressed and upset. I mean, the thought of pregnancy crossed my mind, I'm not denying that. But I didn't have enough evidence, so I kept myself logical. And then Simon starting hiding something from me. Tori started avoiding me—which was odd in itself since she was constantly picking fights with me while you were out—and Lucy kept looking at me like I was a kicked puppy. Then the final clue, the one that made me sure I'd falsely dismissed a pregnancy was when Marlee hugged me before I went in to see you today." Derek explained.

"Marlee _hugged _you?" I asked, shocked.

"Yeah, something was definitely up."

"So… you're not pissed off?"

He smiled. "No. I knew when we completed our mate bond there was a possibility of getting you pregnant. If I didn't want to take that chance, I wouldn't have." He replied. I laid my head back against his shoulder and shut my eyes. "Hey, I don't need you to drown too."

I gave a small smile. "I'm gonna go lay down then." Carefully, I stepped out of the tub and dried off, Derek following suit. Fully clothed, I climbed into bed and snuggled into Derek's chest. I was asleep in minutes.

x-x-x

I awoke to the sound of glass breaking downstairs and was immediately on alert. I sat up and stared. "Derek," I shook his shoulder.

"Hm? What?" He said groggily sitting up on his elbows.

"There's someone—"

The sound of a fight echoed through the house followed by the sound of a loud _thwack! _"Stay here." Derek said as he quickly, but silently exited the room.

"Like hell." I mumbled. I followed him out to the top of the stairs, confused at what I saw. Mason was panting, his hand still holding the baseball bat that was usually kept by the refrigerator in the kitchen. Unconscious, by Mason's feet was a familiar looking woman.

"Lauren?"

_**/AN: CLIFFHANGER! Sorta. Sorry the chapter is so short. But I felt like it needed to end there. The REAL fun begins in the next chapter. *Evil grin*. So, I hope you guys enjoyed this chapter. For whatever reason the bath tub scene was excruciatingly difficult to write, even though I previously knew how I wanted to do it. I'll probably update again in the next few weeks or so. Maybe sooner. You guys should know by now not to trust me when I set a specific update time. Lol. As always, leave a review please!**_

_**PS. If any of you guys are Naruto fans, feel free to check out my new fanfic: "Runaway Love". Just thought I'd put that out there. :)**_

_**-Kit/**_


	7. The Bitch Is Back

_**/AN: Okay, so here's chapter 7: The Bitch Is Back. Hope you guys enjoy it! PS. This chapter has been edited.**_

_**Disclaimer: I have never owned The Darkest powers trilogy.**_

_**Last Time:**_

_** The sound of a fight echoed through the house followed by the sound of a loud thwack! "Stay here." Derek said as he quickly, but silently exited the room.**_

_ **"Like hell." I mumbled I followed him out to the top of the stairs, confused at what I saw. Mason was panting, his hand still holding the baseball bat that was usually kept by the refrigerator in the kitchen. Unconscious, by Mason's feet was a familiar looking woman.**_

_** "Lauren?"/**_

_**Chloe's POV**_

Simon came up behind me, rubbing his eyes. "Is that Lauren?"

"Why is Mason holding a baseball bat? And who is Lauren?" Lucy asked.

Kit and Marlee came down the hall. "What the hell is going on?" He looked over at Mason. "Is that Lauren?"

"My words exactly," Simon said.

Kit ignored Simon and walked over to Lauren's unconscious body. "How hard did you hit her?" He asked Mason.

"Hard enough," Mason mumbled.

"Would someone please tell me who this _intruder _is and why we're treating her like a friend?" Marlee stood in front of Kit, her arms folded across her chest.

"She's my aunt." I replied simply.

"She's still alive from what I can tell. Just out cold." Kit said. He turned to Marlee. "Lauren is Chloe's aunt. She traveled with us when our group first formed a few years ago."

"Why'd she get kicked out?" Lucy asked.

"She didn't. She left." I told her. I wasn't too fond of the way she left either.

"Why'd she leave?" Marlee turned to Kit.

"Lauren left because she couldn't handle Derek's condition and what it entailed." Kit said, preparing to say more.

"Simon interrupted. "That's only half of the reason. Lauren left because she was convinced that Derek was a monster and didn't like the fact that he and Chloe were together. She was a total bitch about it."

"Anyway…" Kit gave Simon a look. "She clearly came here for a reason. So let's move her to the living room."

Marlee stopped Kit. "Hold it, you have no idea where she's been for the last, what? Year and a half? And you're just gonna let her in?"

Kit glanced toward me. "We've been keeping in touch." I rolled my eyes. Marlee glared and Kit sighed. "If it makes you feel any better, I'll tie her up."

"Fine."

Mason helped Kit move Lauren to the couch in the living room, binding her hands and feet with rope. When they were finished Kit said, "Kids, stay here. I'm going to go have a word with Marlee." Simon, Lucy, Mason, Tori, Derek and I spread about the room. Derek and I took a spot on the other couch. I sat in the middle, close to Derek. Mason pulled up a chair from the kitchen and sat it beside the door frame. Simon and Lucy sat next to each other on the floor. Tori, who had come in, in the middle of Marlee and Kit's argument, took the love seat by the window, curling up on her side.

"So are you going to tell us anything else about your aunt, other than the fact that she hates Derek?" Mason asked, his arms across his chest.

"There's nothing really to tell other then the fact that se used to work of the Edison Group." I replied, snuggling close to Derek who wrapped his arm around my shoulders.

"BORING." Mason rolled his eyes at Tori. "Let's talk about something fun." Tori said from her spot on the couch. "Chloe, do you want the baby to be a boy or a girl?"

I blinked. "I haven't really thought about it… a boy I guess."

"Why?" Lucy asked.

I shrugged. "Girls seem more high maintenance and needy."

"It could be twins." Derek said out of the blue.

I looked at him in horror. "Don't even joke," I said.

"Who's joking?" He asked.

Before he could say anymore, Simon started in. "It's a known fact that natural werewolf pregnancies generally come in pairs or threes. I don't think it goes past that but who knows? Maybe Derek's got demon sperm—"

Derek chucked his shoe at Simon's head as Simon rolled on the floor laughing his ass of. "Not even funny, Simon." I replied.

"Despite Simon's false accusation of demon sperm, I was serious about the baby being twins. It's about a seventy percent chance for twins and a fifty percent chance for triplets." Derek said.

"I don't think it's twins. I really don't." I said. I really hoped not.

Derek raised a brow. "Wanna bet?" He asked.

I was in a particularly good mood and had a good feeling about my take on the conversation. "Yeah, alright. What are the stakes?" I asked.

Derek smirked. "If everyone else joins in the bet, the losers owe fifty bucks each. If you or I lose?" He leaned into my ear. "We get to do whatever we want to each other. No exceptions." He whispered so no one else could hear. My eyes widened. What the hell had I gotten myself into?

I swallowed. "Deal."

"Who's in?" Derek asked.

Tori jumped up. "I'll go get the bet jars and the white board!" When Tori returned she had a T chart made. At the top on the left side, was Derek's name and on the right, Chloe's. "Blue capped jar is Derek's. Red capped jar is Chloe's. If you think CHloe's right and there's only one baby, place your money in Chloe jar and write your name on Chloe's side of the board. If you think Derek's right and it's twins, place your money in Derek's jar and write your name on Derek's side of the board."

Mason, Simon, and Lucy placed their bets, putting their money in Derek's jar. "Sorry Chloe," Lucy said as Marlee and Kit came back in.

Tori had a disgusted look on her face. "You people sicken me." She placed her money in Chloe's jar."

"What's the bet this time?"

"Derek thinks they're having twins. Chloe doesn't. Wanna join in?" Tori asked.

"What's the wager?" Marlee asked.

"Fifty each."

"You kids drive steep bargains," Kit placed his bet in Derek's jar.

Marlee rolled her eyes. She placed a fifty in Chloe's jar. "Unlike some people, I believe in a mother's instinct."

"At least somebody does." I said.

Behind us, a groan was heard. Lauren opened her eyes. "What happened?"

Kit helped her sit up. "Do you know who I am?"

Lauren looked at Kit. "Kit Bae. Who the fuck hit me?"

Mason smirked. "That would be me."

Lucy turned to Mason. "What were you doing down here at two in the morning anyway?"

"I was hungry." He mumbled.

Lauren's eyes widened. "Chloe, where's Chloe?"

I waved from where I sat. Lauren tried to get up and I tensed. Kit pressed her back into the couch. "Let's just take it easy. Why are you here?"

"You told me in your last email that Chloe was in a car accident. What you failed to mention was that she's pregnant."

"How does she know?" I was shocked.

"Oh, what? Did you think I wouldn't find out about your ungodly mistake?" I felt Derek squeeze my hand firmly. "_Don't listen to her. Stay strong." _The gesture said. Lauren pulled out a folded up piece of paper from her jacket pocket and handed it to me.

I took it.

"Pregnant teen runaway escapes authorities after near death car accident." I looked up. "It's a news paper article." I swallowed. What else would it say about me?

"Go on. It gets better." Lauren seethed.

"Chloe Saunders, 17, a runaway who has been missing for two years, was brought in to Riverside Methodist Hospital on November 1st. She had been traveling with two accomplices who appeared to be close in age."

"Accomplices? I wasn't aware the we're criminals." Tori said, a hint of annoyance in her voice.

"You've been truant for two years and are underage. Our short schooling lessons don't count in the eyes of the law. To them, you're just runaways." Marlee replied, waving for me to keep reading.

"In a double hit and run, Saunders had sustained a crushed arm, a severe frontal concussion, and multiple broken ribs. Upon arrival, the runaway had gone into cardiac arrest several times, ultimately leading to a coma. Taking further tests, it was discovered that the missing teen is about three weeks pregnant—"

"Dammit… I can't keep my god damned mouth shut…"Simon flopped on his back. "Someone rip my tongue our, would you?"

I continued. "Three days after being admitted, Saunders awoke and was reported missing again a few hours later. The property was searched thoroughly, but no sign of the expectant teen was found. Head doctor in the ICU, Francine Harold, 37, didn't report seeing anything unusual before Saunders' disappearance.

More information is being gathered on the runaway's whereabouts as authorities search for her.

It is suspected that Saunders is traveling with a group of about seven or eight people and is considered armed and dangerous. Officials warn to approach with caution." I groaned. "Well, shit."

Kit sighed. "Unfortunately, this happens. No one knows where we are, so we should be fine for the time being." He turned to Lauren. "Now why are you here?"

"Chloe is pregnant. You think I'm going to sit here and do nothing about it? Clearly, you aren't responsible enough to keep a bunch of teenagers from fooling around. And I know for a fact that those two aren't responsible enough to take care of a child. They aren't even smart enough to use protection!"

"Oh for the love of god." Tori rolled her eyes.

"Here we go…" Derek pinched to bridge of his nose.

"And you!" Lauren turned on Derek. He looked up. "I'm surprised you're still her. Shouldn't you be long gone by now?"

Derek let out a laugh. "See, that's the thing, Lauren, You don't know the first thing about me.

You never took the time to learn anything. If you had, you'd know that I love Chloe and I'm not leaving her. Oh, and you might want to catch up on the things before you go shouting accusations on other peoples intelligence, or you might be the one making yourself look dumb."

Lauren rolled her eyes. "It won't matter in a few hours." This got everyone's attention.

Simon jumped up. "What are you talking about?"

"As soon as the clinic opens up, I'm taking Chloe to get this… mess, taken care of." Lauren replied.

It was my turn to jump up. "You don't mean—"

"Yes, that is exactly what I mean. You're not keeping this… _thing._"

Derek was in front of Lauren in an instant. Kit got between them. "Look, let's talk this out. This is a delicate situation and it needs to be handled as adults, not like bitchy two year old."

"There's nothing to 'talk out'. Chloe's not keeping the monstrosity and that's final."

"Don't I have any say in this? It's my body. You can't force me to have an abortion." I said.

"And I sure as hell won't let it happen." Derek's eyes blazed with hate.

"You have no legal ri—"

"I have _every _legal right to my child. You do _not _want to play this game with me, Lauren. You won't win." They were inches from each other. I could see the look in Lauren's eyes. She was afraid, and I knew that Derek could see it.

"ALRIGHT, you two." Kit shoved himself between Lauren and Derek. "Derek, take a seat. You as well, Lauren. Marlee, stay here with me. Everyone else head back to bed."

"Like hell, I'm going back to bed. That's my niece or nephew this bitch is trying to kill! I don't think so." Simon stood his ground.

I could tell Lucy, Tori and even Mason weren't going anywhere either. Kit rolled his eyes. "Fine. If you won't go to bed, stand outside the door. At this point, I don't give a shit. Just give us some privacy." He kept his tone even, but I knew when Kit was pissed. I'd been around him long enough to recognize his tells.

Reluctantly, Lucy, Simon, Mason and Tori exited the room, Marlee shutting the door behind them. "If we could all just have a seat?" Marlee took seat in the chair that Mason had been previously sitting in. Kit sat on the arm rest of the couch and Lauren sat on the couch opposite.

"Lauren, I'm Marlee Hasich. I've been traveling with Kit and the kids for a little over a year now. If you would allow me to explain the gravity of this situation to you—"

"I already know the gravity of this situation. My niece happens to be a dumb ass." I felt Derek tense beside me.

"Calm down," I whispered, low enough so only he could hear.

"I'm afraid that isn't the case. I'm assuming you know of Derek and Chloe's mate bond." Marlee said. She kept her voice calm but I could tell she was just as pissed off as Kit was.

"Unfortunately."

"And I'm assuming you know that there are two stages—"

"Yes I know the stages of a werewolf bond." Lauren interrupted.

Marlee snapped her eyes shut in annoyance. "I'll let you in on a little secret. I'm not Kit. I don't believe in peace over violence. I'm only doing this so there's less stress on Chloe. So if you insist on interrupting, I'll skip the formalities and politeness and kill you where you stand. I am not _in _a good mood." Lauren didn't respond.

"As I was saying. There are two stages to a werewolf mate bond. The bite, which is the start of the bond, and intercourse, which completes the bond. Chloe and Derek had completed the first part of the bond before I arrived. Kit informed me this was around the same time you left the group. Chloe and Derek had both told me that they intended to wait until Chloe was ready for sex to complete the bond. As you can imagine, Kit and I were thrilled with that choice.

However a few weeks ago, things became complicated. Chloe was attacked and nearly raped by a rogue werewolf. Luckily, Derek stepped in, in time. Unfortunately, Chloe was shot in the leg. The next day when we arrived here, I managed to remove the bullet. It wasn't until later that I realized that the wound was suspicious. The muscle had already started regrowing around the bullet. I had to clip away at muscle tissue to remove it. I didn't think anything of it then because we had been traveling for so long.

The next morning, the wound was completely healed. For a werewolf, this would've been normal. For a human, an injury like that should've taken a month to heal. Possibly longer. Upon further examination, I discovered that the werewolf venom, which should've just stayed in her system marking her as Derek's, was slowly killing Chloe. This can happen sometimes between human/werewolf mates. It's fairly common. The only way to stop the venom from killing Chloe within the month, was to complete the bond through intercourse.

Of course as you already know, this led to Chloe's pregnancy. However, there was another side effect of the completion of the mate bond that we didn't foresee. It doesn't happen very often… generally only once every couple hundred years. The completed mate bond _did _stop the werewolf venom from killing Chloe. Unfortunately, the chemicals reacted in such a way that instead of killing her, it began turning her into a werewolf. This is most likely why Chloe didn't have a miscarriage from the accident. So you see, even if you did have the power to force an abortion on Chloe, her body wouldn't allow it."

Lauren didn't say anything for a minute. "There must be a way to reverse this process and destroy that child."

Derek went ridged. I squeezed his hand. I could feel a mixture of emotions rolling off of him in waves. Anger, hate, fear. The woodenness of his posture told me that he was fighting to hold himself back. At first he made no movement. For every second that he didn't squeeze back, or glance my way, the worry that he might actually rip Lauren's head from her shoulders grew stronger in my mind. After a minute that seemed to stretch a century, he clutched my hand, telling me that he was still in control.

"There isn't a way to reverse Chloe turning into a werewolf. Their mate bond is permanent. It cannot be severed, even by death. Werewolves, like natural wolves, mate for life." Kit said, glancing at Derek. His questioning eyes turned to me. I nodded back at him, confirming that the situation was under control for the moment. Kit gave a slight nod back before returning his attention to Lauren and Marlee. He continued.

"Not to mention that you'd need very special tools to perform a werewolf abortion. Tools a regular human abortion clinic wouldn't have."

"No, but I bet Miss. Hasich over here does." Lauren glared at Marlee. "You're a doctor, right? You talk like one." She sneered.

Marlee smirked but the gesture held toxic venom. "If I did, I wouldn't tell you. And if I did, I wouldn't do it."

"Oh, is that so?" Marlee nodded. Lauren crossed her legs and folded her arms, leaning back into her seat. "Well, I think it would interest you all to know that Chloe's father is flying in from Berlin tonight. He's been informed of Chloe's predicament and agree to meet here."

"You called my father? You put my dad in danger by telling him where I am?" I stood. Lauren had gone too far. "Who the fuck do you think you are? Why the hell do you think I haven't contacted him at all in the last two and a half years? I was protecting him! And then you go and ruined _everything _that I worked for." If I wasn't pissed before, I sure as hell was now.

"Chloe, he's known about supernaturals for a while now. When I wouldn't tell him what was going on, he went in search of answers himself. He knows everything." Lauren replied.

I left the room. I wasn't dealing with this right now. I opened the door and wiped sweat off my forehead. My fever was back. I walked past the kitchen, were the rest of the group was at, and went up the stairs into our room. I flopped on the bed intent on going back to sleep.

After a few minutes, Derek entered the room and shut the door. "Hey, are you still awake?" He asked softly.

I sighed. "Unfortunately." I sat up. "What's going on?"

Derek sat next to me. "Dad's told everyone to go to bed. He set Lauren up on the couch and dead bolted the lab so she can't get to any of Marlee's tools. Kit and Marlee are taking turns watching her for the rest of the night. They don't want her to sneak up here and cause us anymore issues. It's been decided that the conversation will pick back up in the morning after your dad gets here."

I rubbed my hand down my face. "I haven't seen my dad in almost three years… what am I gonna say? 'Hey dad, sorry I haven't called in a while. Good to see you. Guess what? I'm pregnant and turning into a werewolf?' Somehow I don't think that's going to go over well." I laid my head on Derek's shoulder.

"We'll figure something out. For now let's just go to bed." I nodded and we shut out the light. Derek curled up next to me and wrapped his arm around my waist. He hand lay sprawled protectively across my abdomen. "I'm not gonna let her take our baby away. Not ever."

"Kit and Marlee won't let it happen." I said, placing my hand over his. "I won't let it happen."

I don't think we slept at all that night. Both of us were too stressed out. So we just laid there in a comfortable silence, enjoying each others company.

When morning cam we went through our morning routines and headed downstairs. The smell of cooking sausage and bacon wafted through the air. Immediately a wave of nausea hit and I stopped. "Are you gonna be okay?" Derek asked. I stood there unsure of what my body was going to do. And then I collapsed to the floor spewing my guts into a bucket that had been conveniently placed in front of me. I could feel Derek beside me, carefully hold my hair away from my face.

"Looks like I got here just in time." Simon handed me a proper towel and gingerly removed the bucket from sight.

"Ugh, that's gross." I said, standing again, Derek helping to keep me steady.

"Hey if it brings me a niece or nephew it'll be worth it." Simon gave a reassuring smille.

"Okay, I'm gonna go freshen up and stay away from the kitchen." I replied.

"Do you want me to go with you?" Derek asked.

I shook my head. "I'll be fine. Go eat." Derek nodded.

_**Derek's POV**_

I watched as Chloe went up the stairs. I turned to Simon. "Thanks for that. I don't think she would've made it to the nearest trash can."

Simon nodded. "Like I said, all a part of the process. And don't thank me, thank Marlee. She's the one that had me rush out here."

We walked into the kitchen and I picked up a plate. There was a large bowl of eggs, a mountain of sausage, and two piles of bacon, along with about thirty biscuits. I made sure to grab some of each before taking a spot at the table beside Mason.

"Is Chloe gonna be okay?" Lucy asked.

"She'll be fine. Just a bit or morning sickness, I think." I replied. Lauren didn't say anything, but watched me like a hack. I was _not _going to deal with this all day. I looked at her.

I swallowed what food I had in my mouth. "If you have something to say to me, then say it. I'm not going to play this secret 'I hate you' game that you seem to have up your sleeve. So either tell me what you want to say or stop staring at me like I'm a criminal." I said in a partially civil manner. Lauren looked away.

I quickly finished breakfast and went to find Chloe. I found her laying on the couch in the living room. "Hey, you want something to eat?" I asked sitting on the arm rest of the couch.

"Some buttered toast, maybe?" she replied.

"Okay, I'll be back." I kissed her and left for the kitchen.

"So when is Chloe's dad supposed to be here?" I heard Marlee ask.

Lauren shrugged. "He just said he'd be in today." I made the toast and brought it to Chloe.

I opened my mouth to speak when there was a knock at the front door. "That's probably him," I heard Lauren say from the other room. I looked to Chloe, who had stopped eating.

"Well, shit. This day just keeps getting better and better…"

_**/AN: Okay so there you have it! Lauren's back and, (shocker), she's still a bitch! Lol. I'll update soon as I can. Leave a review please! :)**_

_**-Kit/**_


	8. Ultrasounds and Winners

_**/AN: Okay so I had a brief issue with my computer and was set back an entire day. -_-. I'd also like to dedicate this chapter to my Dad. His birthday is May 3rd and he'll be 46. Happy Birthday Daddy! :) Anyway here's Chapter 8: Ultrasounds and Winners. PS. This chapter has been edited.**_

_**Disclaimer: I do not and never will own the Darkest Powers Trilogy./**_

_**Derek's POV**_

I helped Chloe off the couch and we headed into the front room. "Kids, why don't you join us in the main hallway?" Kit called out Simon, Lucy, Mason and Tori from the kitchen.

In front of Marlee, Kit and Lauren, stood a middle aged man. He was about my height with dark graying hair. He had a slender build. I watched as Chloe walked back into the kitchen. Curious, I followed her. "Chloe? You okay?" I seemed to be saying that a lot lately.

"I can't go out there…"

"Chloe you haven't seen your dad in three years. He clearly came here because he's concerned about you. I'm not asking you to be happy about it. Just, go see what he wants." She leaned into my arms and gave a shuddering sigh. I began rubbing circles in her back in an attempt to comfort her.

Simon came up next to me. "What's going on?"

"Cold feet." I replied, without looking at him.

Simon laid a hand on Chloe's shoulder. She looked up at him. "Don't worry about it. We've got your back, no matter what." He smiled.

Chloe nodded slightly and pulled herself away from my arms. I grabbed her hand. "Let's do this." We walked out and stopped by the couch.

"Dad?"

The man turned to Chloe. "Chloe?" They stared at each other for a minute. I felt Chloe fidget nervously next to me. "How've you been?" Mr. Saunders asked.

"Okay. You?"

"Busy,"

"So, Mr. Saunders I believe introductions are in order." Kit said. "Shall we all have a seat?" We spread out on the couches in the main entry way.

"I'm Kit Bae. This is Marlee Hasich and we've been that main care providers for the kids, including your daughter." Chloe's dad took Dad's extended hand and shook it firmly.

"Lauren said you had a connection to the Edison Group. You mind explaining that? Nothing personal. Just want to make sure my little girl isn't in any immediate danger." Chloe shifted uncomfortably next to me.

"Not at all. I was a lawyer for the group. When things got bad, I took my son, and one of the other kids, Derek, into my care and fled. We rescued Marlee on a raid on one of the Edison Group bases. She's a shaman healer, who was being held against her will." Kit explained. Marlee waved next to him.

Kit moved on. Simon was sitting on the floor, his legs crossed in front of him. "This is my son, Simon. He's a sorcerer and eighteen."

"Hello. Nice to finally meet Chloe's Dad. We've heard a lot about you." Simon said. I'm pretty sure Chloe wanted to slap him. Mr. Saunders nodded.

"This is Lucy and Mason. They're twin werewolves, but Lucy is also a necromancer—"

"Sort of. I can see spirits, but I can't hear them. I'm psychically deaf." Lucy said.

"They're about to turn 17." Marlee explained.

"Next is Tori. My bio—"

"I'm his daughter. I'm a witch and I'm 17." Tori said, shaking Mr. Saunders' hand. Kit gave a grateful look to Tori, who nodded.

"Of course, you know Chloe." It was my turn to shift uncomfortably. I think Chloe's cold feet were contagious. This man's opinion of me would most likely shape the rest of Chloe and I's relationship. I couldn't afford to fuck this up.

Chloe squeezed my hand.

"Finally, this is Chloe's mate, Derek." I casually, or what I hoped was casually, shifted my weight.

"So you're the father of my grandchild?" I held my gaze as Mr. Saunders scrutinized every inch of me.

I swallowed. Evil scientists? Easy. Rapist werewolves? I'd take one on any day. Lauren? No contest. Meeting my girlfriend's father? Oh god, I wanted to dig a hole and die.

"Derek Souza." I felt myself extend the hand that Chloe wasn't groping. "Nice to meet you." Kill me now. Did I mention I suck at communication?

"And you as well. You don't seem half as bad as Lauren described." I resisted the urge to roll me eyes.

"No offense sir, but that might be because Lauren is a racist bitch." Mason said. Mr. Saunders raised a brow.

"She hates on werewolves and believes they should all be exterminated." Simon put in.

Chloe's dad looked at Lauren. Her mouth was open in shock. "You don't seriously believe them do you?"

"I believe what I see, Lauren. I've met quite a few werewolves on my journey for the truth. Not one of them stuck me as dangerous." Mr. Saunders replied.

"They're dangerous, Scott. You didn't see them in the lab. They attacked a doctor!" Lauren said.

"I spent the first five years of my life with those kids, Lauren. And yes, they were unstable. But given the fact that they had been genetically altered, and were cooped up all the time, it shouldn't be surprising that they snapped." I replied calmly, fully away that my every action was being surveyed.

"That's no excuse. You're dangerous, all three of you." Lauren shifted her gaze towards Lucy and Mason.

I watched as Mason jumped up in anger. Lucy was in front of him and Simon had his hand on Mason's shoulder.

"Mase, calm down."

"Yeah, dude chill. You don't want her blood on your hands, you might get a disease." Tori said, glaring hate at Lauren.

"Not to mention the fact that she's not worth it." Simon added.

"What did I tell you? He's chomping at the bit to rip my throat open! He should be retained."

Mr. Saunders rolled his eyes. "Is it possible that you offended the boy?"

"Offended? I doubt he even realizes who is who. No, I know his type. Ruled by instinct. I told Michael not to enter Lucy and Mason in the experiment. Not after… never mind. We're not here for the other two. We're here because Chloe's been impregnated with demon spawn." Lauren replied.

"Hold it, what are you talking about? Not after what? And who's Michael?" Confused, I looked to Dad. He wouldn't meet my eyes. What else was he hiding from me?

"Like I'd tell you. Can we get back on topic, please?" Lauren retorted.

"No, I wanna know what's going on—"

"Derek, drop it." Dad's voice was stern and meant business. I shifted back into an uncomfortable silence.

"Does it even matter to you that I'm turning into one of the creatures you think are so dangerous?" Scott looked at Chloe pointedly. "She didn't tell you?"

"No… How did this happen?"

"It's a rare side effect of my mate bond with Derek." Chloe explained.

Mr. Saunders turned to look at me. "I've seen young werewolves go through their first set of changes. It isn't fun to watch. I'm assuming you've completed the change already?" I nodded. "You'll help her through this then?"

Again, I nodded. "I wouldn't let her go through it alone.

Scott sighed. "Have the changes started yet?

Chloe shook her head. "Not yet. I've got a bit of fever though. Marlee says I should complete the change between the next six to nine months." She explained.

"And the baby?"

"The baby should be fine during the change. I'll check after each shift to make sure though." Marlee said. "Your daughter's in capable hands, sir. I wouldn't worry too much."

"Call me Scott. I'm not your superior. If anything I owe both of you for taking such good care of my Chloe. Keeping her out of trouble and all that."

"Well, I wouldn't say—" Lucy punched Simon discreetly in the arm.

"Ow, what the fuck was that for?"

"Simon, language." Dad said, shifting his gaze momentarily to Simon.

"Sorry," Simon mumbled, rubbing his arm.

"So if Lauren didn't tell you about my change, then she probably didn't tell you that she's trying to force an abortion on me either." Chloe said, softly.

"Abortion? Really Lauren? You know Bridget didn't approve of them." Scott told Lauren.

"Oh, so you think she should keep the bastard? She's seventeen. If you really think she's old enough to do this, the you're a bigger fool than I thought." Lauren replied.

"No, I don't think she's old enough to take care of a child. But there are other options out there, Lauren. You don't have to kill a living being."

"Living being? It's three weeks old. It's heart hasn't even started to beat yet. It's still a bundle of cells. It is _not _living."

"Just because it doesn't have a beating heart yet, doesn't mean it won't." Marlee replied. "A fetus' heart starts beating at around 8 weeks old. It's almost halfway there. At six weeks, a fetus has already had it's first few brain waves. You're just going to kill it before it even has a chance to live? That's inhuman."

"You realize that most miscarriages happen within the first trimester? There's still a chance that Chloe's body will do the work for me." Lauren snarled at Marlee.

"Lauren, if you aren't going to talk about the situation in a civil manner, I'm going to have to ask you to leave." Kit said, his arms across his chest.

"No offense, but instead of squabbling about what you should do about the situation, why don't you just ask Chloe and Derek what they want to do? They are the parents after all." Tori put in.

Silence settled in. It was clear that they hadn't thought of that. Again, I resisted the urge to roll my eyes. "Tori has a point." Kit said.

Scott sighed and looked at Chloe and I. "What do you want to do?" Neither of us said anything. I really didn't want Lauren around when I voiced my opinion. "Chloe?"

I felt Chloe shift her weight next to me. "I don't want an abortion. I want to keep our baby," Chloe said after a minute.

"Derek?"

"I'd like to be able to see my child. I'm gonna have to veto an abortion." I replied. I could tell Mr. Saunders wasn't happy about our decision. Tough. It wasn't his kid.

"You two realize you have another option." I really hoped he wasn't going where I though he was going. "You can always put the baby up for adoption." Of course. I ran a hand through my hair. "Think about it. You're on the run, you're almost constantly in danger. What kind of life is that for a child? Is that really the environment you want your kid to grow up in?" Scott asked.

I looked at Chloe and could tell by the look on her face that she was seriously rethinking her decision to keep the baby.

"You'd still be able to see them. All you'd have to do is find a pair of parents who are willing to do an open adoption. You'd still be able to be apart of the baby's life and be able to see them as much as you wanted." Scott said.

"Yeah, that's the answer. Just pass the problem off to an innocent couple. That's childish." We ignored Lauren.

Chloe sat there for a minute. "We'd be able to find supernatural parents?"

"If that's what you want." Scott replied.

I stared at Chloe in shock. Just yesterday she'd been hell bent on keeping our baby and now she was seriously thinking about adopting him or her out? "Chloe, come on. You aren't seriously thinking about this are you?" I asked, softly.

"Yes, Derek, I am." I saw Simon shove Tori, Lucy and Mason out of the room hurriedly.

"I'm confused. Why are we even discussing this? I thought we agreed yesterday that we weren't going to let anyone take our baby away." I wasn't okay with this.

"He's right though. Are you really willing to subject our child to a life on the run? It wouldn't be fair." Chloe said.

"And it'd be fair to give him up? Which is the worst indecency? A life of constantly moving around with your parents? Or a life where you're constantly being reminded that for whatever reason your parents decided to give you up to strangers? Neither is fun, but personally, I'd take the life where I'm not constantly second guessing my parent's motives." I said, keeping my voice level.

"Keep in mind, we have eight months left to figure things out. It's not a decision that needs to be made right this second." Kit said. "Derek and Chloe, you clearly have some things that need to be talked out. Why don't you go discuss things?" I nodded. I wasn't going to let this go.

"In the mean time, I'll go dig out the sonogram machine. Time to see who's gonna win that bet." Marlee said.

"Bet?" Scott asked.

"We've got a running bet. Derek thinks that the baby is actually twins. Chloe doesn't. Fifty bucks is the wager if you'd like to join, Mr. Saunders." Simon popped his head in the room from the kitchen.

"I think I'll pass…" Scott replied.

"You bet… on… a baby? That's sick." Lauren said. Again, she was ignored.

"Everyone meet in the living room in an hour… if that's okay with the parents." Marlee looked to Chloe and I.

I shrugged. I didn't care either way at this point. "That's fine, Marlee."

The group dispersed and Chloe and I headed up to our room. I shut the door.

"Can we talk about this?" I asked softly, sitting in front of Chloe on the bed."

"We need to do what's best for the baby. This isn't just about us." Chloe said, picking lint on the sheets.

"Why are you so sure that giving up the baby is the best option?"

"Why are you so sure it isn't?" Chloe countered.

"I can think of plenty of reasons, right now." I replied.

She held my gaze. "Would you like to tell me what they are?"

"Well, there's the fact that someone tried to kill you. If we put our baby up for adoption who's to say they won't come after him too? Or worse, what if the parents we pick out are undercover spied for the Edison Group? I don't want to subject our kid to that. On top of that, I don't think I could live with the guilt of leaving my child with some random stranger." I explained.

"Guilt?" Chloe gave me a look.

I took a breath. "I have no idea who my biological parents are, Chloe. I mean I've got Kit, and I consider Kit my dad, and that should be enough. But sometimes it isn't.

I was conceived from frozen cells. I have no idea if the people who donated them even know if I exist. If they do, do they even care? Have they tried to look for me? And if they don't, why'd they even consider giving up their cells in the first place? Did they care that they might have a kid out there at some point? Or was it just money for them?

These questions have plagued me since I was little, still in the lab. If we gave up our baby, I don't want him to have similar questions. They're not fun to think about."

I could see Chloe weighing the options in her head. "To add to it, yes, with open adoption we'd be able to see our child whenever we want to, but it's like Scott said. We're constantly on the run. So we'd have no idea how often that would be. A few times a year? Less than that? I don't like that idea Chloe. Plus, I think with the eight of us, taking care of and protecting a baby should be a piece of cake. And who better to do it than his family?"

Chloe stared at me. "You've been calling the baby 'him' since before we started this conversation." She said.

I averted my eyes. "I don't like calling him an 'it'. It makes it sound like he's a monster like Lauren thinks." Chloe nodded in understanding. A though dawned on me.

"Have you been listening to anything I've said in the last five minutes?" I asked.

"Yes."

"So any thoughts?"

"We talked for about ten more minutes, finally coming to a compromise we could both agree on. We headed down the steps. "Ready to see who won the bet?" I asked.

"I already know who won." Chloe replied.

"Oh?"

She nodded. "Me of course. Mother's intuition." Chloe smiled. I almost laughed. Almost.

When we got to the living room everyone else was waiting. "About time, you got here. We can't get a peek at the twins without the baby maker." Simon said, with a smile.

"Oh thanks, Simon. How sensitive of you." Chloe rolled her eyes.

"Anytime." Simon continued grinning.

"So how does this work again? I've only seen it in movies." Chloe asked Marlee.

"Just lay flat on the couch and lift your shirt up a little. I'll do the rest of the work." Marlee replied. Chloe did as she was told.

"The monitor is hooked up so everyone can see." Marlee pulled out a bottle of gooey substance. "This is warming gel, so it won't be cold." Chloe nodded as she squirted some of the gel on Chloe's exposed abdomen.

"So, we won't be able to see a baby yet, but the gestational sac or sacs will be visible. It'll indicate the number of fetuses present." Marlee explained as she pressed the transducer over Chloe's skin.

Nothing appeared at first other than gray fuzz. Then, two black circles appeared in the gray mass. "Well there you have it. Twins."

"Oh, hell no. Seriously?" Chloe swiveled to get a better look. A smile spread across my face.

"I didn't wanna say I told you so… but I told you so!" Simon said, his eyes glued to the screen.

"That's a baby?" Mason leaned closer.

"Not yet. But they will be." Kit replied.

"Can you tell what the gender is?" Lucy asked.

"Nope. And we won't be able to for a while. I'd say at least until Chloe's at sixteen to twenty weeks. Maybe sooner. But I wouldn't put money on it. But I can tell that they seem to be a good size, which means they're fairly healthy despite the accident." Marlee said. "Okay, so who wants a picture?" In the end, Marlee made a copy of the image for everyone.

"Has anyone seen Lauren?" Tori asked, a hateful look on her face.

"She said she didn't want to be present." Scott said, still looking at the print out of the twins.

We gravitated to the Kitchen and I made Chloe some chicken noodle soup at her request. "So we've made a decision about the twins." This got everyone's attention.

"We've decided that for now, it would be safest to keep them. If drastic measures need to be taken later on, we'll sent the twins into hiding with _temporary _adoptive parents." Chloe said.

Mr. Saunders didn't look too happy about our decision. "I can live with that I suppose. Are you sure you want to do this?" he asked.

Chloe nodded. "I'm about ninety seven percent sure. I think the other three percent is cold feet but, I want to do this."

We spent the rest of the day talking all things baby until it was time to head to bed. I collected my winnings from the bet jar, which was all of a hundred bucks, and headed up the stairs. I shut the door. Chloe looked at me. "I believe, you have a debt that needs paid." I advanced in her direction.

"Do I?"

I picked Chloe up and carried her to the bed, my lips never leaving hers. I inhaled her scent, burning it into the recesses of my mind so that I'd never forget it. I was just starting to let my hands wander when there was a knock at the door.

"Really? I swear to god I'm going to get a 'do not disturb' sign for the door."

Chloe giggled. "If we ignore them, maybe they'll go away," She whispered. I nodded and she ran her hands through my hair as I claimed her lips again.

Another knock.

I let out a growl of frustration. "I will brutally murder whoever is on the other side of the door."

Chloe laughed at my comment. "Calm down. We've got all night." She got up to get the door and I flipped onto my back and laid my arm across my eyes.

"I was being serious," I replied.

"Uh huh. Sure." I heard Chloe open the door and looked to see who disturbed us. "Lauren. What do you want?"

"I wanted to apologize. And say congratulations. I heard you're having twins." Lauren said.

I could see she had her hands behind her back, hidden from view. Chloe must've noticed too because I saw her close the door a little. I sat up, ready to spring into action at the slightest hint of anything wrong.

"Yeah. Marlee said I'm due around July seventeenth of next year." Chloe said.

Lauren said something that I couldn't make out.

There was something wrong. "Chloe—"

The events that occurred next happened in slow motion, before I could react. I watched as Lauren lunged through the door and tackled Chloe to the ground. I leapt into action in a panic, too late. The rage I felt was overwhelming when I finally realized that Chloe's midsection was pooling with blood.

I looked at Lauren who's face looked like a deer caught in head lights. "I've dealt with you long enough." I raced toward her, kicking the weapon from her hands, losing my self in red. I was hell bent on killing her. No matter what it took.

_**/AN: DUN, DUN, DUN! I'm so evil to you guys. :3. That's it for now. I'll update soon! As always, leave a review please. :) Or not. You know, that always works too. I'll post whether you guys want me to or not, so I guess it doesn't really matter. But it would be nice to know what you guys think... Also, I apologize for the annoyingly short chapters... I know they suck. But oh well. Guess you'll have to live with it. :)**_

_**-Kit/**_


	9. Ghosts Suck

_**/AN: So guess what guys? My computer crashed. It's completely dead. I'm taking it to a repair shop to see if it can be salvaged. If not, I'm screwed and chapter updates will be sparse. If it can, I should have my computer back in a week or two. For now, I'm using my mom's computer. Here's a little note: We don't share electronics well in my house. So we'll see how this works out. -_-. Anyway, enough about my sucky life. Here's Chapter Nine: Ghosts Suck. PS. This chapter has been edited. **_

_**Disclaimer: Kelley Armstrong owns it... Stop asking me. T_T/**_

_**Chloe's POV**_

When I awoke, I found myself staring at the ceiling. I sat there for a minute, taking in my surroundings. I was in the living room. But, hadn't I been in bed with Derek? I tried to sit up, but pain exploded through my left side and I cried out. In the next few seconds, Marlee was beside me.

"Hey, take it easy," She said softly. "You hit your head… can you remember anything?" Marlee asked.

I shook my head. "The last thing I remember is being in bed with Derek. And then, nothing. Why can't I remember? Marlee, what happened?" I looked to the shaman.

Marlee sat at my feet. "Chloe, I need you to stay calm when I tell you this." I nodded slowly. "A few hours ago, Lauren attacked you with a scalpel in the abdomen. We aren't sure how she got it, but we think she was trying to jump start a miscarriage." Marlee explained slowly. "You went into shock and lost consciousness. You hit your head pretty hard when you fell, which is most likely why you can't remember anything. It could also be because your subconscious is blocking the memory."

I was surprisingly calm. "So did she do it? The twins… are they…?"

Marlee smiled a little. "Both twins are fine. Luckily, Lauren missed her target. A few inches deeper and she would've hit your left ovary, rendering it useless. So you got _very _lucky." She replied. I nodded somberly.

"Where is Lauren now? And Derek?" I asked.

"I had to give Derek a sedative because he was so upset and wouldn't calm down. He's still out and probably will be for a few more hours. I had Mason and Simon take him back to bed." Marlee paused. "Derek in his rage, snapped Lauren's neck. Kit and Mason have gone out of their way to bury her a few cities over so there's no risk of you accidentally raising her."

I noticed something I hadn't before, moving behind Lauren. Through the blinding pain I felt behind my eyes, I focused and saw Lauren's spirit glaring at me from the corner. "Just because I can't raise her, doesn't mean her ghost still isn't around." I said. I looked back to Marlee. "But tell Kit and Mason I said thank you." I tried to move again and had to bite my tongue to keep from screaming. "Shouldn't I be healed already?"

"I did the best I could to repair the wound. It's up to you now. Yes, you heal fast, but it'll be a few more hours before the muscle inside is completely healed." Marlee explained.

"That sucks." I forced myself up, despite my screaming side.

"Looks like you could use some help." Simon met me in the kitchen.

I looked at him with a blank stare. "Thanks, Simon, but I'm fine." I said slowly, after a minute.

He gave me a skeptical look. "You don't look fine. You look like you're about to pass out." He said. I rolled my eyes. Simon sighed. "At least let me help you up the steps?"

I turned to walk away and instead ended up losing my balance. Simon was next to me in an instant, helping me up. "Sorry I don't have Derek's reflexes… are you okay?" He asked. I nodded. "Can I help you up the steps now? Or are you gonna wait until you fall again?" Without waiting for a response, he lifted me into his arms bridal style and I let him.

When we stopped in front of my door, he set me down. "Are you gonna be okay from here?" Simon asked.

I would've been if I hadn't noticed Lauren's ghost following us since I walked out of the living room. Why did she say anything? I looked at Simon. "Can you wait in here, while I take a shower? I don't wanna be alone… and I know Derek's here but—"

"He's out cold. I get it." Simon gave me a reassuring smile.

"Thanks." I tried forcing a smile, I don't think it came out right.

I entered the bathroom and shut the door. I leaned against it, taking a moment to breathe. Then Lauren appeared in front of me. "Go away. Haven't you done enough?" I said.

"Clearly, I haven't since you're still carrying Derek's bastards." Lauren replied. Her glare was full of disdain.

"You'll never stop will you?" I asked her.

Liz appeared next to me. "Need me to take care of her for you, Chloe?"

"I'd just like both of you to disappear, so I can take my shower in peace!" I snapped. Liz gave me a hurt look and turned back to Lauren.

"If you know what's good for you, you'll leave and never come around Chloe again." Liz said.

"What are you? Half Demon? Go play poltergeist with someone else." Lauren sneered.

"Or I could just play poltergeist with you!" I watched as Liz rammed her body into Lauren's so hard they disappeared through the wall. I waited a few minutes before stripping out of my clothes and turning on the water, making sure they didn't return. I didn't mind Liz, but I didn't care if I ever saw Lauren again.

I removed the patch of gauze that Marlee had placed over my wound and examined the damage. The stitches were almost dissolved, but it still looked red and angry. The scare would be small though.

Without another thought, I climbed into the shower, letting the water cascade down my shoulder. I slid down the shower wall and wrapped my arms around my waist, trying to stop myself from shaking. A sob escaped from my throat and I snapped my eyes shut, biting my tongue to keep sound from being emitted.

I took a deep shuddering breath and put my head between my knees. I would _not _have a panic attack right now. The twins had been through enough trauma the last month. I wasn't going to add anymore stress on them. I had to be strong. If not for myself, then for them.

I took a few more minutes to get myself under control, then I stood. I washed my hair and body before stepping out of the shower, determined to not let Lauren get to me. And then I remembered that I'd been so upset that I'd forgotten to get clothes. And Simon was right outside the door. '_Well, fuck.' _There was only one thing I could do. I grabbed a towel and wrapped it around myself before opening the bathroom door a crack.

Light flooded in from the hall, and I surveyed the room for the first time since I'd entered that night. Derek was still passed out in the middle of the bed. Simon was sitting on the floor by the door, using the light from the hall to draw in his sketch book. From what I could tell from the lack of light from the window, it was either very late or very early. I returned to Simon.

"Hey, Simon?" I whispered.

He looked up and his eyes widened. "What the fuck are you doing?" He covered his eyes with his hands. "You realize if Derek wakes up and sees you in nothing but a towel in front of me, I'm gonna get massacred, right?" He said, sounding like he was about to have a panic attack.

I rolled my eyes. "I wouldn't be in a towel if my dumb ass had remembered to grab clothes before getting in the shower. Can you just grab a tank top, some underwear, and a pair of shorts from my dresser, please?"

"Yeah, just get back in the bathroom and away from my line of sight. I don't have a death wish." I smiled a bit and shut myself back in the bathroom. A few seconds later, Simon's hand appeared in the doorway. He still had his hands over his eyes.

"Thank you," I said.

"Don't mention it." I shut the door again and got dressed, exiting the bathroom a minute later. Simon rose from his spot on the floor and face me. "Are you gonna be okay from here?" he asked.

I nodded. "Thanks for staying. I know you probably wanted to go to bed instead." I replied.

Simon shook his head. "You're welcome, but no. I haven't been able to sleep since Lauren pulled her stunt. Too wired, I guess."

I looked at the bed where Derek lay. As much as I'd been through in the past two days, sleep didn't sound inviting. It sounded terrifying. I turned back to Simon. "You know, I could really go for a coffee. Do you think if you went with me, Marlee would let us walk down the road to the Starbucks?"

"There's no harm in asking." Simon replied.

We headed down the steps and found Marlee sitting in the kitchen. "Shouldn't you two be sleeping? Especially you, Chloe."

"We were actually wondering if we could walk down to the Starbucks. Neither of us are able to sleep." I explained.

Marlee opened her mouth to protest. "I'm going with her. And I'll bring a fire arm if you want me to. It'll be safer if we walk, and it's just down the street. Plus, we could both use the exercise." Simon pleaded.

Marlee sighed. "Rules. The only way I am letting either of you out of this house is if you follow _exactly _as I tell you." Simon and I both gave her our full and devoted attention. "Simon, I want you to take the Barretta 9000 from my dresser. It's the only hand gun we can spare and it's a hell of a shot. You watch her back like a hawk, you hear me? Anything happens to her, I'm blaming you." Marlee said with a stern look on her face.

Simon swallowed nervously. "Yes, ma'am." Marlee raised an irritated brow. "_Do I _look _like a 'ma'am' to you?" _the expression said. "Er, you can count on me, Marlee." It sounded like a question. Marlee nodded as if to say, "_better."_

"It's not like I can't take care of myself. I have for the last two and a half years." I argued.

"Good. Because I'm giving you my Southwest Gerber pocket knife and you better bring it back clean or I'm gonna make you take it apart and clean ever piece. Then I'm gonna make you put it together again. And I lost the instruction manual years ago." Marlee threatened.

I nodded.

She pulled the knife from her jeans pocket and tossed it to me. Surprisingly, I caught it with ease. The Chloe from two years ago, hell, the Chloe from six months ago would've fumbled and dropped it. Marlee smirked and said, "Looks like your hand/eye coordination is getting better. Excellent." I looked at her. Oh. Right. I was turning into a werewolf. So many things had been happening lately that I kept forgetting that little detail.

"Next order of business. If you're planning on getting a coffee, you can forget it. It's not good for the babies. Don't look at me that way. You can settle for a hot chocolate for the next two years. Coffee is bad for you _and _the twins."

"Two years?" I felt my eyes widen. Was she insane?

"A werewolf infant will settle for no less than real breast milk—"

"Okay! I think I'm gonna go wait in the other room while you guys, uh, talk about… things." Simon tried to hid the blush of his face as he left the room.

Marlee rolled her eyes. "He is such a child in some ways." She said. "Anyway, with ninety nine percent of werewolf infants, human formula will make them very sick. They can't process the artificial enzymes the way that a human infant could. I can get a pump for you if you pref—"

"What's the other condition. I really don't wanna talk about this right now." I said.

Marlee gave me a look. "You can't avoid it forever Chloe. But I guess the subject can be waived for now." Simon apparently over heard and walked back in to the room, shoving Marlee's handgun into his pocket. "I hope that's on safety. I don't think you want to shoot your balls off."

"I'm not an idiot." Simon replied simply.

"The last condition is that you stick to the shadows and try not to draw attention to yourself. I'm trusting you here. Don't let me down. "You're you're not back by six am, you better hope that you're dead, because when I find you, you're never leaving this house again. And then you'll wish you were dead." Marlee instructed.

"What time is it now?" I asked.

"Just after four am." Simon said. "Thanks Marlee." Simon linked his arm through mine and practically ran from the room.

We were both silent as we walked away from the house. "Can I ask you something?" Simon asked as we passed the barn at the entrance of the woods in front of the house.

I looked at Simon. "You've never asked to ask me something before. You just always asked. Which makes me think that it's a serious question. I'd rather avoid those right now." I said.

Simon smiled. "It's not that serious." He said.

I motioned for him to continue. Simon stayed quiet, hesitating.

"Simon?"

"Are you having second thoughts? He asked abruptly, turning to face me.

"What are you talking about?"

"The twins. Are you having second thoughts about keeping them?" He elaborated.

"What? No. I meant it when I told Lauren I wanted to keep them. It's just…" I sighed. Simon waited patiently for me to continue. "Everything has felt like a dream since I got back from the hospital. I mean, I know it's real. I know this is really happening… it's just subconsciously, I think I'm waiting for myself to wake up.

It's like, my inner self has been in a coma. In my own waking mind, I'm okay with being pregnant, excited even. Or at least I was. And then Lauren showed up. She tried to kill me, tried to kill the twins. And then my inner Chloe woke up and said, 'whoa wait, back up. You're seventeen. You're pregnant. And you're okay with this?'" I paused. "Is this making any sense?" I asked.

Simon nodded. "I follow you. It's a hard thing to adjust to."

"It's not just that. For a minute I thought, maybe, Lauren was right. Maybe I am crazy for keeping the babies. I mean, I don't know how to take care of a kid. And Derek and I can barely take care of ourselves. What's gonna happen when we have two other people to watch over that can't take care of themselves?

And then Derek reminded me that we still had you, Lucy, Tori and everyone else who would be willing to help out and watch over the twins. And we saw them on the sonogram, and started talking baby and it hit like a ton of bricks. This is really happening and _everything _is going to change. And I'm still getting used to the idea of being a mom. When Marlee started talking about breast feeding, I just lost it." I sighed. "I feel like I'm rambling."

Simon chuckled. "Rambling is good. It means you're venting properly. Feel free to keep going. I'm listening." We stopped at the end of the drive and turned left. There wasn't anyone on the road.

"I just feel like everything is happening so fast. It's going to take some getting used to. So the official answer to your question is, no. I am _not _thinking of giving up the twins." I said, finally.

"I don't know what I'd do if I got Lucy pregnant." Simon said, mostly to himself.

I laughed a bit. "I don't think you'd have to worry about it.

"Why is that?" Simon asked, looking at me.

"Because Mason would kill you as soon as he found out." We shared a laugh.

"Yeah, I guess I forgot about Mason. You're right. I'd be dead before I could say, 'Oh, shit.'"

I smiled. "So clear up the rumor for me. Do you and Lucy really get _that _kinky?"

Simon laughed. "No. Mason thinks we are because Lucy happens to be comfortable with her body. She was in my room after a shower completely naked, I had just walked in when Mason chose to walk by. And he took it the wrong way and didn't bother asking for the real story. I'm guessing that's how this rumor came to be. But in reality, we've never had sex or anything remotely on those lines. And I don't think we will be anytime soon. There's definitely no rush." Finally we crossed the street and entered the twenty four hour Starbucks.

We ordered two large hot chocolates and sat on the benches outside. I felt Simon shiver next to me. "Cold?" I asked.

"Just because you don't feel the cold, doesn't mean the rest of us can't." Simon replied.

I glanced down at my skimpy attire. "Yeah, well. I also have a fever. So. The cool weather feels nice on my skin."

"The perks of being a werewolf," Simon mused. He checked his watch. "Shall we begin the trek back?"

I nodded, standing with ease this time. "Let's hit the road."

We walked a few feet. "So I have another question." Simon said. I motioned for him to ask, as I took a sip from my hot chocolate. "Are you upset about Lauren?"

"No." I didn't hesitate with my answer and kept moving.

Simon stopped walking. I turned to look at him. His face sported a frown. "I know she was a sociopathic bitch, but she was also your aunt. You really feel nothing about her death?"

I took another long sip from my drink. "There was a time, when I thought of Lauren as my surrogate mother. My own mother had died, and Lauren was there to try and fill the gap. And she did. For a while. Then I got sent to Lyle House and she lied to me. I was willing to forgive that. I was willing to forgive her prejudice against Derek, if it meant I got to have the comfort of having a family member along for the ride.

When she swung that bat at Derek's head the night he marked me, and made me choose between her and you guys, I wasn't sure I could forgive that. I was pissed. I was hurt. She wasn't the woman I remembered my aunt as. And when she showed up yesterday, I wasn't sure how to react. I wasn't sure I liked the fact that Kit had been keeping in touch with her. I wanted to trust her and I guess I did out of habit. But something in the back of my mind told me to stay hostile, stay cautious.

The more I saw of Lauren's hostility towards Derek, tot the twins, the more I realized she wasn't my aunt. I didn't know her, I didn't love her, I just wanted her to leave me alone." I paused. "If you had asked me three years ago if I loved Lauren, I would've said yes in a heartbeat. Now? Now, I'm just sorry she was too much of a bitch to let me be happy with my own decisions."

Simon gave me a sad look. "I'm sorry that it didn't work out that way."

I shrugged. "What's worse? She's still there. Her ghost is. Liz drove her away, but that won't keep her away forever. Neither will banishing her. It'll work for now, but she'll find her way back. And what if she brings a friend? A ghost like Liz? I don't think I could live with myself if something happened to the twins because of her."

"Is that why you asked me to stay with you?" Simon asked.

I nodded. "Her and Liz had it out in the bathroom. She made it clear that she won't stop until the babies are dead. And from past actions, I don't think she cares if I get taken out either. And we both know what almost losing me did to Derek. I don't wanna know how he'd handle my death."

"I hate to say it, but I think the man's crazy enough to do something stupid." I gave Simon a "_don't even go there"_ look. "If it meant being with you, he'd do it. Whatever it takes."

I looked at the gravel beneath my feet as we took a right to get onto the lengthy driveway. "Let's hope it doesn't come to that."

"I can agree to that. I just got you back. I don't wanna lose half of my sisters again." Simon said with a smirk, wrapping his arm around my shoulders.

I laughed. "I'm not going anywhere."

By the time we neared the front yard, the sun was just beginning to rise over the horizon. We stopped to look at the frost covered scenery. Suddenly, Simon went ridged beside me. "What is it?" I asked. I followed his gaze over to the barn at the edge of the yard. Just tucked behind it was a shadowy figure. "Simon—"

"I know. Stay here." He gave me a look. "I mean it Chloe. I'm going to circle around and tackle him from behind. Get into the woods and keep your pocket knife out. Follow the edge of the trees until you reach the back yard and cut through the gardens to the back door. If I'm not back in ten minutes, send out back up." Simon said.

I nodded. That, however, didn't mean I was going to listen. I wasn't going to leave Simon out on his own. I'm pregnant, not disabled.

I watched as Simon inched quietly toward the figure. I stayed where I was, scoping out the scene from a distance. I saw Simon perform a knock back spell. The figure stumbled and Simon took his chance to tackle him. I sprung into action picking up a small, but thick fallen branch, and ran towards the two. Simon and the guy struggled throwing punches here and there. I saw my chance and took it, swinging the branch at the intruder's head. He stopped struggling long enough to perform a binding spell.

"And you never listen…" Simon shook his head and took the guy by his feet.

"If I hadn't shown up, you'd be toast." I replied.

Simon rolled his eyes in annoyance. "As long as you're here, pick up his hands. I'm no where near as strong as Derek. And if we're going to question this guy, we need to drag him all the way across the yard and into the house. By the way, this binding spell will only last about five minutes. Give or take."

I helped Simon drag him to the house. Marlee was waiting for us. "You're ten minutes late. Who's this?"

"We found him standing by the barn watching the house." Simon said. "He's awake, but I did a binding spell that's only gonna last about two more minutes."

Marlee took over my position. Inside, Simon helped tie him to a chair.

"Where have you been?" a voice grumbled behind me. Oh shit.

I turned to see Derek leaning against the wall, as casually as a worried pissed off adult werewolf could. His eyes bore into mine. "Simon and I went for hot chocolate at the Starbucks two miles down the road." I replied.

"You were stabbed with a scalpel seven hours ago… and you went for hot chocolate." Derek gave a small humorless laugh and wiped his hand down his face.

"Go easy on her, dude. It's been a stressful night, and she couldn't sleep. You think I'd let her go alone?" Derek's gaze drifted to Simon. "And we were armed. Plus the trip went smoothly… er, well, mostly."

"You let her attack someone?" Derek asked, a hint of anger in his voice.

"What? No. I told her to stay hidden. She apparently, had other ideas." Simon said.

Derek rolled his eyes. "Of course she did." Finally, he strode over and pulled me into his arms, breathing deeply. "Don't do anything stupid." He said softly.

"I didn't…" I pulled, noticing the guy in the chair was starting to move. "Are Kit and Mason back yet?" I asked.

"They just called about ten minutes before you got here. They'll be here with in the next half hour or so."

"Damn girl… you've got a nice swinging arm…" The guy mumbled. I got a good look at his face.

"Holy shit, I know who that is…" I said. I recognized him alright. But what the hell was he doing here? And how did he find me? That was twice now.

He looked at me. "Hey, Chloe. Nice to see you again. Glad to see you got over that food poisoning. Are Tori and Lucy here?" He asked.

I didn't like this. I didn't like this at all.

_**/AN: So do you guys have any idea who the mystery guy is? I kinda made it obvious with the hints I gave. Lol. So not **_**too ****_much of a cliffy this chapter. :) I'm using my brother's computer to update so I should have the next chapter up with in the next few days or so. Leave a review please! :)_**

_**-Kit/**_


	10. At Your Service

_**/AN: Okay, so this is an updated version of Chapter 10. I did some editing, and I hope you guys enjoy what I've done. :) PS. This chapter has been edited.**_

_**Disclaimer: I don't own Darkest Powers or Yu-Gi-Oh.**_

**Last Time:**

"_**Damn, girl... you've got a nice swinging arm..." The guy mumbled. I got a good look at his face.**_

_** "Holy shit, I know who that is..." I said. I recognized him alright. But what the hell was he doing here? And how did he find me? That was twice now.**_

_** He looked at me. "Hey, Chloe. Nice to see you again. Glad to see you got over that food poisoning. Are Tori and Lucy here?" He asked.**_

** _I didn't like this. I didn't like this at all._/**

_**Chloe's POV**_

"What are you doing here, Dylan?" I asked, folding my arms across my chest. Between the four of us—Derek, Simon, Marlee and I— we formed a semi-circle around Dylan.

"You know this creep?" Derek asked, sliding a glance my way.

"Yeah, so do you. We met him at the joke shop a few years ago. We got sprayed with whipped cream by a false TV? Ring any bells?"

Simon gave us a bewildered look. "Whipped cream? How did you guys get that kinky without ever doing it?"

Derek ignored his brother. "Yeah, I remember. What's he doing here?"

"What? I can't visit Chloe after her accident? I was the one who pulled her off the side of the road and brought her to the paramedics. They wouldn't have found her if it wasn't for me." Dylan replied.

"Hold on a minute, you were there the night Chloe and the girls were hit?" Marlee asked.

"Chloe wasn't feeling well. I will probably remember dodging that projectile vomit for the rest of my life." I rolled my eyes. "I helped Lucy and Tori bring her out to the car. The next thing I know, metal is crunching against metal. And no, I had nothing to do with it, if that's what you're wondering."

"Then why are you here? How did you find Chloe?" Simon asked. Derek stayed silent and calculating.

"I dropped my bag out by the barn. You won't believe me unless I have it." Dylan said. He shifted in his seat.

"I'm clearly not going anywhere. Can you untie me?" Derek glared. "Please?" Dylan sighed. "If I try to escape, I'll let big, tall and gruesome over here kill me himself." I raised a brow and looked at Derek. He rolled his eyes and looked to Marlee, who nodded. She moved to untie Dylan's ropes.

"No one goes anywhere until Kit and Mason get back." Marlee instructed. She still had her eyes on Dylan.

"Do you want me to go wake Lucy and Tori?" Simon asked.

"So they _are _here." Dylan said.

Marlee and Simon ignored him. "No. If Tori gets woken before ten AM for a third time this week, I think she'll kill someone. It might be best to leave them be."

I turned to Derek. "I'm gonna get something to eat." He nodded and followed me into the kitchen. I opened the refrigerator and Derek slid his arms around my waist.

"How are you feeling?" He asked.

"I'm find. Stop worrying. You'll five yourself an ulcer." I turned and smiled at him. "Seriously, I'm fine." I faced the refrigerator again and pulled out a carton of eggs. "I'm thinking breakfast sounds good."

Derek kissed my forehead. "Go sit. I'll cook." I sat at the table while Derek began to scramble the eggs. Less than five minutes later we were both enjoying a simple breakfast. Halfway through, Simon made his presence known.

"Hey, Dad and Mason are back if you guys wanna join everyone in the main hall." He said.

We quickly finished, placed out dishes in the sink and headed into the main hall. Kit and Mason looked beat. Marlee was talking to Kit about the back pack he held in his hands. Dylan sat on a couch with his yes closed. Simon was talking to Tori and Lucy catching them up. Dad had also came down from his room.

"She's up before nine… Do you think she's sick?" I asked Derek sarcastically. He shrugged and we moved further into the room.

"Chloe, glad to see you're conscious again." Dad said, pulling me into an awkward hug.

"Alright, so you're Dylan?" Kit turned to the seemingly sleeping boy.

Dylan didn't open his eyes. "Dylan Mungovan, at your service," He cracked open a lid. "Not really. I've just always wanted to say that." He sat up further. "If you'll hand me my back pack, I'll explain why I'm here and hopefully prove that I'm not stalking Chloe."

Kit obliged. Dylan unzipped the bag and pulled out a bunch of random items of clothing before finally plucking a manila file from the bag. "I don't want to show you the file right away. I want to tell you a little about me first." Kit motioned for him to continue. "I was born on April third nineteen ninety five to Scott and Bridget Saunders—"

I stepped forward. "What the hell type of game are you trying to pull?"

"Can I finish?" Dylan asked simply.

I glowered and looked to Dad, who had a mixed expression on his face; shock mixed with horror and a dash of confusion. "Dad, what they hell is he talking about?"

He ran a hand down his face. "Chloe, I swear I don't know anything about this. We didn't know Bridget was carrying twins until the doctor told us in the delivery room. You were born first. The second baby was a boy… they took him away so fast neither of us even got a chance to look at him. They came back a few minutes later and told us that he was stillborn. We weren't even allowed to see the body. The doctor who delivered you said it was hospital policy that all still born babies be cremated.

Bridget and I decided it was best that you didn't know. If we had known back then what we know now, we would've demanded to see him. Hire a PI if we had to. As far as I knew, your brother was dead before he was even born."

I turned my attention back to Dylan. "I am _not _in the mood to be messed with."

I felt a hand on my shoulder. "Chloe let him finish before you maul him." Marlee said.

I sighed and reluctantly backed away.

"As I was saying, I was born to Scott and Bridget Saunders seventeen years ago. For the first twelve years of my life, I lived with John and Halie Mungovan. They were amazing parents to me. I always had everything I needed, everything I could ever want, with the exception that once every month since I was six years old, I was to meet with a man named Marcel Davidoff. We'd talk about anything and everything for about an hour. I got used to it."

"So they faked your death and included you in the Genesis Two experiment." Derek said, off to the side. "Sounds familiar," He glanced between Mason and Lucy and refocused his attention on Dylan.

"Your guess is as good as mine." Dylan said with a shrug.

He continued. "When I turned twelve, weird things started to happen. Whenever I got pissed off, I could throw lightning bolts from my hands… I could hear voices in my head that weren't mine. My mom and dad were clearly worried and they definitely knew what was going on.

When I asked, all I got was '_Just talk to Dr. Davidoff, sweetie. He'll tell you everything you need to know.'_ Yeah. That got me nowhere. I started seeing Davidoff three times a week and every day I was in his office, I'd ask the same question. '_What is happening to me?' _And every day I was in his office, I'd get the same answer. '_You're special, Dylan. You're very valuable. That's all you need to know for now.'_

"Oh you're special alright. A real nut job," Tori scoffed.

"Tori," Kit gave her a look.

"Sorry." She mumbled.

"Finally one day, I convinced my mom and dad to let me take the bus after school to meet with Davidoff alone. After the meeting, I sneaked out of the office and into the file room where they keep all of the important records. I put the file in my back pack and left. I took the bus to a nearby park and sat down to read it.

It had my birth certificate: 'Dylan Monroe Saunders' was the name that was on it. Although the file said Mungovan. Confused I kept reading. Six pounds five ounces, seventeen inches long. Born to—surprise, surprise— not John and Halie Mungovan. I continued to search and found my adoption papers. I also found a document that said my mother—my real mother— had died in childbirth after giving birth to not only me, but a sister as well. It said that my sister had been stillborn and my father wanted nothing to do with us now that his wife was gone."

Dad interrupted. "That's a lie. Bridget lived for six years after she gave birth to Chloe.

Dylan stared at him. He hesitated. "…How did she die?"

Dad didn't say anything. "She got sick. Cancer; it was fast. She was gone within six months. We never saw it coming." I replied.

Dylan's eyes softened. "I'm sorry."

I wiped my eyes and Derek wrapped his arm around my shoulder. "Don't be."

"What else did you find in the file?" Kit asked.

"After the birth stuff it was nothing but notes on me. From every session I'd had with Marcel Davidoff. In the family notes, where they kept my family history, I guess you'd call it, was a 'see also Chloe Saunders'. It had a birth date on it, no death date. Which was strange considering we shared a birth day and my twin sister had supposedly been stillborn.

I kept the file but I didn't go home. I hopped on another bus and let it take me as far as it could. I walked the rest of the way into this little town on the out skirts of New York. I was tired, I was hungry, I was pissed off. I ended up sitting in front of an old shop on a bench for hours until I fell asleep. When I awoke, I noticed that someone had placed a blanket over top of me. I sat up as casually as I could before I realized there was this old woman standing beside the bench watching me.

I still remember the first words that bat shit crazy woman said to me. '_If you're hungry come inside, and feel free to eat until you explode out of your ears. And then, if you're still tired—which you probably are, from sleeping on that bench—there's a warm bed with your name on it.' _I looked at her like she'd grown a second head. '_After you're one hundred percent physically again, I'll answer all of the questions you have about the sparks that fly from your finger tips and the voices in your head.'_

"Marigold," I said. Dylan nodded.

"I asked her what she knew about it, and how she could've possibly known. She didn't know me. She didn't know my story. I didn't expect to get slapped across the face for my response. '_You'll do well to respect your elders, Mr. Mungovan. I know a lot more than you think I do.' _Then she looked at me with a smile on her face. '_Now, you can stay out here in the cold or you can follow me inside and we'll talk.'_

Turned out the bat shit crazy and now apparently psychic old woman was a shaman who went by the name of Marigold and lived above a joke shop that she owned. She explained to me that I was what was called a sorcerer, and I apparently had a few necromancer abilities that were thrown in. She went on to explain about the other races and why she had taken me in.

She helped run what was like an underground railroad for Supernaturals. Marigold would find runaways with unusual abilities, teach them what they were, the responsibility they had to use with their powers and then let them stay with her a while. If they wanted to stay, they would. But if they decided they wanted to leave, she'd tell them where the other safe houses were, and how to reach her if anyone needed her.

I decided to stay with her. I had nowhere else to go and I didn't want to go home. She gave me my own room and bought me some clothes. My room was small, and underground. More like a cubical really. Enough room for a small desk, a bed and a closet. And there were about ten other rooms like it, expertly hidden underneath the basement of the joke shop.

The clothes weren't really the best, but I didn't really care. Marigold had me enrolled in the local school, which was fortunately, also run by a fellow supernatural who knew Marigold quite well.

"Can we please get to the part where you explain why you're stalking Chloe?" Tori said from her place next to Simon and Lucy on the couch.

"Chill, would you? I'm getting to it."

Dylan paused to gather his thoughts before continuing. "After a few years, I came across the back pack that I had brought when I first came. I read everything in the file again, and it was like reopening a wound. If my mother wasn't alive, my father didn't care, and the only parents I had ever known lied to me my entire life… then I had to find my sister.

Marigold dug up everything she could on you. I learned your name, where you went to school, that you lived with your dad… and finally that you were missing. Had been for about six months. She also found the other kids that were with you at that group home."

"Lyle House?" Simon asked.

Dylan nodded. "One day I was bringing in a shipment of joke shop supplies for Marigold. And who none other than Chloe would be the one I run into. The very next day after I found out you were missing and I'd probably never find you, there you were. Standing in the middle of my space. Unfortunately you didn't stick around long enough for me to say anything more than '_Hi, I'm Dylan' _before ugly over there whisked you away."

Derek growled. I grabbed his hand. "Calm down. He's a smart ass, but he might be helpful." Derek backed off.

"Again, Marigold dug up everything she could. News paper articles, Genesis Two files that other experiments had brought in and finally we pieced together who you may have been traveling with. And I set out. Tracking your movements, or trying to anyway, with articles of 'teenage runaway spotted—insert location here'. Meeting you at the mall that day was just an accident. When I saw you were sick, I wanted to help even if it was just helping you to the car. I was walking back across the parking lot when I heard the crash.

I heard Tori screaming something about '_Where is she? Where is she?'_ and they already had Lucy in the ambulance. The paramedics weren't looking hard enough and I think they thought Tori was in hysterics and worried about Lucy. I found Chloe yards away by a tree. I picked you up and brought you to the ambulance and watched as they carted you off. I decided to head home after that.

Turns out whoever attacked you, was looking for me too. I returned home to find my cheap rundown apartment rental ransacked. Normally I would've thought, okay, neighborhood delinquents. And I did. Until I found a note on the kitchen counter: '_I want my file back. -Davidoff' _along with a phone number.

I slept at a friend's house that night. Another supernatural under ground railroad friend. She housed me for the last few weeks while I tried to determine where you were staying. I searched all of the buildings that hadn't been used for a few years in the general area. There were three within a thirty mile radius. When I saw the first two were empty and void of live, I knew you had to be here. And here I am."

Dylan waited a few seconds before reopening his mouth to speak again. "From what I've pieced together, you're trying to form a resistance. I'd like to help. The Edison Group ruined my life. And it would give me a chance to get to know my family… or what's left of it."

Kit sighed. "We've had a rough week. We aren't really in a very trusting posit—"

"Let's get one thing straight. You try _anything _on _anyone _especially Chloe, I'll have your head ripped from your shoulders before you can say '_oops'."_ Derek said.

Dylan looked at Derek a moment and turned to me. "I'm guessing this is your jerk of a," he looked at our joined hands, "boyfriend…? Hm… Last I knew it was ex. Am I missing something? He's a werewolf. Did he do something to hurt you?"

I rolled my eyes. "Stop acting like you know me. We had a fight. It was no big deal. We have bigger things to worry about." I said.

"Like Davidoff?"

Kit sighed. "Davidoff is dead. Chloe helped with that."

"So… what's there to worry about? If the Davidoff is dead then the note was just placed to scare me."

"Oh, Chloe's pregnant."

"SIMON!"

"Sorry, couldn't hold it anymore. If you didn't tell him, I had to. You waited too long and my loud mouth took over." Simon apologized.

"There's always Kyle. Marcel's son. He took over after Davidoff died. He's probably the one who left the note." Marlee said, attempting to change the subject.

"You're pregnant?" Marlee's attempt at keeping peace failed. Dylan looked pissed. He turned to Derek. "You got my sister _pregnant_?" If looks could kill.

"Dude, you don't even wanna start with me on that. Back away before you hurt." Derek towered a good six inches above Dylan.

"Boys, knock it off." Kit said. "Dylan if you have an issue with Chloe being pregnant, then you can leave. I'm not having any more near death experiences on my watch."

"Near death experiences?"

"Chloe's crazy bitch aunt came and tried forcing an abortion on Chloe. When that didn't work, she stabbed her with a scalpel." Lucy said.

Dylan sighed and turned to face me. "Are you and the baby okay?"

"I'm still a little sore, but the babies are fine. Thanks." I said.

"Babies?"

"Chloe's carrying twins." Derek responded.

"Well, congratulations then… I guess." Dylan turned to the rest of the group. "Look, I'm not here to cause trouble. The situation just caught me off guard, that's all. I swear I'm not gonna go psycho and stab anyone with a scalpel anytime soon. Chloe's my sister, and I'm missed out on all those chances to protect her."

"You barely know me,"

"You're my sister. That's all I need to know." Dylan smiled.

"If Chloe being pregnant caught you off guard, I can hardly wait until you hear the rest of the situation." Simon said.

"What? Does big, bad and ugly have mutant sperm?" Dylan joked.

"Right? That's the same thing I thought!" Simon laughed.

Derek rolled his eyes. "I'm also transitioning into a werewolf. It's a—"

"—Rare side effect of a human/werewolf mate bond. I've done a lot of research." I blinked. "That may explain why they tried to kill you. It's not just a rare side effect, it's super rare. Like finding all five parts of Exodia rare. There are only nine sets in the entire world. Just finding a _limb _card is extremely difficult." Dylan paused and stared at our blank faces.

"Exodia? Dude, that's the best metaphor you could come up with?" Mason asked. "And I wouldn't bother with Yu-Gi-Oh metaphors. Derek doesn't even know who Yoda is. And stop exaggerating. There are rarer cards than Exodia."

"Whoa. You got him to speak! Do it again." Tori said. "I'be been trying to get him to do that for days!"

"Not to change the subject, but I beg to differ. Exodia is the all powerful. It's the rarest of cards, not to mention the strongest. You pull Exodia, and the match is over." Dylan turned back to Derek and me, looking fully prepared to continue our previous conversation.

"I can name three cards that overpower Exodia." Mason countered.

Dylan swiveled to look at Mason. "Really? Let's hear them."

"The God cards: Obelisk the Tormentor, Slifer the Sky Dragon, and The Winged Dragon of Ra." Mason responded.

"Exodia could easily take down a God card. As I said, Exodia wins by default. Plus the God cards are banned from play." Dylan said.

"Just because they're banned from official tournament games doesn't mean they don't exist. Exodia is merely the God's guardian. If Exodia were to go up against any one of the God cards, Exodia would be crushed."

I rolled my eyes. "You guys can finish your nerd fight later. Can we get back on topic please?"

"Aw, Chloe! I think that's the most Mason has spoke in his life! Why'd you ruin it?" Tori complained.

"Why don't we head to the lab? Tori, Lucy, Mason, Simon, go make yourselves busy." Marlee said.

Kit, Marlee, Dad, Derek, Dylan and I traveled down to the lab. "As I was saying, you side effect is extremely rare. Not to mention the fact that you're pregnant _and _interbreeding. The outcome is tremendously unpredictable. It explains why the Cabal would want you dead. I can only imagine that the Edison Group is scrambling to find you now that they've lost you again."

"It also explains why I saw someone watching the van the night we picked Chloe up from the hospital." Simon's voice floated down from the top of the steps.

Kit rolled his eyes. "He never listens…"

"That tall guy at the other end of the parking lot? I saw him too." Dylan met Derek's eyes as Simon came down the steps. "I tried to visit Chloe the night you took her from the hospital. Apparently, I wasn't the only one…" He turned to the rest of us.

"They're looking for me because I took a file that I wasn't supposed to see. If I'm right, they tried to kill Chloe because she's too much of a risk and they failed. So now, they're looking to finish the job, meaning they're searching the area—thoroughly."

"What do you suggest we do?" Kit asked.

"What we're best at: We run." Simon replied, as if the answer was simple to him.

"Oh, hell no! I am not moving _again_!" Tori raced down the stais, Mason and Lucy following closely behind.

Marlee ignored Tori's dramatic entrance. "Normally, I would agree, but with Chloe being pregnant it won't be easy. We need a better solution. We have two other people to think about now."

"Thanks, Marlee. But really, I'm fine." I said, earnestly.

"What about the Pack?" All eyes turned to Dylan. No one said anything. "This isn't uncomfortable at all…" He muttered, sarcastically.

"We've discussed something similar a few years ago…" Kit started, slowly. "We decided that it was best if Derek stay as far away from Pack territory as possible."

"He's a werewolf and Chloe's turning into one. Wouldn't they protect their own?" Dad asked.

Dylan turned to Kit. "He's right. And I've got friends on the inside. If I could talk to them, let them know you're in trouble; they may be able to help. The Pack _hates _the Edison Group. They've seen the damage they've caused. And while they're not too fond of outsiders, they'd be willing to help a couple of Genesis Two werewolves if I vouched for them."

"Derek, what do you think?" Marlee asked.

Derek shifted uncomfortably beside me. "The last time I was in Pack territory Chloe and I were attacked by two other werewolves. You can understand why I wouldn't be too thrilled to return." Again, no one said anything. Derek sighed. "Give us a few hours to think our options over. We'll have your answer before dinner tonight."

The group agreed and quickly dispersed, leaving Derek and I to our thoughts. I yawned as we traveled up the steps and into the room we shared together. "Any thoughts?" Derek asked, leaning against the wall.

I sat cross-legged on the bed and shrugged. "If we go on the run, what are the chances of the cabal or the Edison Group finding us? Fifty, fifty? More?'

Derek nodded. "Fifty, fifty." He thought for a moment. "In one scenario, we go on the run. You have the twins and we keep running. In another scenario, we go on the run, the Edison Group either a: kills you and the twins or b: kidnaps you and does hell knows what. In a third scenario, we go on the run, you have the twins and the Edison Group kidnaps you and/or the twins to do hell knows what. The possibilities are pretty much endless and I could come up with good scenarios and bad scenarios all day, but I'd rather not."

I thought on Derek's theoretical scenarios. "And if we seek out the Pack?"

Again Derek thought on this. "The reason Dad and Andrew had a falling out way back when was because Andrew thought it would be better if I lived with the Pack, learned to be with my own kind. He thought I'd benefit from what they had to teach me. He had even talked to the Alphas about letting me join the pack, securing me a safe position.

Dad contemplated it until Andrew told him that he and Simon weren't part of the deal. They weren't allowed to be included in the Pack. They were to drop me off, and leave me to grow up among the other werewolves. They wouldn't be allowed to visit, call or write. Too much of a liability if a call or letter or email was traced by the Edison Group.

Well, you could imagine how Dad and Simon reacted. Dad had raised me that far and he wasn't about to let me go to complete strangers, he didn't care who they were." Derek paused and shifted his weight.

"When we spent the night with Andrew a few years ago, he brought up the subject again. He figured I was close enough to an adult to decide on my own. Andrew told me he kept in contact with the Alphas in the Pack and I still had a position among them if I changed my mind.

I'm not gonna lie, I thought about it. I kinda wanted to go. I thought maybe they could help figure out what the Edison Group did to my genes. Whether I'd be able to complete the change or not… And then I thought about what would happen to you and Simon if I left and I knew I couldn't just leave you. Not to mention what had happened with Liam and Ramon. I didn't want a repeat of those events." Derek walked over and sat across from me on the bed.

"The problem is I can't guarantee you a spot."

I nodded. "Pros and Cons?"

"Well, scenario one: I get accepted and you don't. We go on the run with everyone else and take our chances. Scenario two: I get accepted and you don't. We go on the run on our own. Go underground, disappear off the face of the planet and raise our family. Scenario three: We both get accepted but the rest of our dysfunctional group doesn't. We could either join the Pack and raise our family or refuse to join without our chaotic group and go on the run. Scenario four: We all get accepted and see how things go." Derek responded.

"It can only go one of two ways. Either it goes well or it doesn't." I said. "So what do we do? We can't stay here, and in either situation, we have a fifty, fifty chance of the Edison Group finding us." I absently scratched at my arm.

Derek noticed. "You're going to shift soon. We shouldn't be talking about this. You should be resting."

I glared at him. "How can I rest when I just found out that I have a brother I never knew about, and the stupid Edison Group is trying to kill me—again?"

Derek ignored me, placing his hand to my forehead. "Stop stressing. It's bad for the babies." I rolled my eyes. "When did you last check your temperature?"

"Derek—"

"Chloe,"

I sighed, giving in. If he wanted to play doctor then I'd let him have his fun. I was tired of arguing with him. "Marlee checked it this morning after I woke up."

"And?"

"And what?"

"What was it?"

"What was what?" I teased, halfheartedly.

"Chloe stop being difficult." Derek replied.

"I'm not being difficult." I leaned over and rested my head on his shoulder.

Derek's tone softened. "Tell me what you temperature was or I'll go bug Marlee for it." He said, wrapping his arms around me.

"One hundred and three," I responded.

"You have a temperature of one hundred and three and you went for a walk to Starbucks? Seriously?" He pulled us apart to look at me.

"I didn't kill over, did I?" I said, sarcastically.

Derek rolled his eyes. "Ha, ha." He said, leaning in to kiss me.

_**Lucy's POV**_

I darted through the trees trying to shake whoever was following me. The moon over head lit my path. I couldn't hear their steps but I knew they were close by. We had been playing at this for what seemed like forever and I began to tire.

Finally I stopped by a giant oak and waited, never letting my guard down. '_Calm yourself, Lucy. I'm not here to hurt you.' _The black wolf that had been following me came to a halt a few feet away.

'_Then what are you doing here?' _I asked her. '_And how do you know who I am?'_

'_My name is Mei. I know who you are because I was sent to find you, and believe me I have been looking for a _long _time.' _The wolf sat on her haunches, a physical way of saying, "I'm not going to attack you." I sat down but didn't relax.

'_Who sent you?'_

'_I was sent by the Pack in Syracuse to—"_

Suddenly there was a knock at my door. I opened my eyes to find Marlee standing in my doorway. "Am I interrupting something?" she asked.

"No, I was just finishing up." I replied. "What do you need?"

"I was going to do this sooner, but then the accident happened and I decided to wait." She paused and came in shutting the door behind her. "I did a lot of research on the DNA we took a few weeks ago, especially after the results came back. The results show that the reason you can shift without pain is because of a recessive genetic junk gene. Mason and Derek have it as well, but as I said it's recessive and their junk gene didn't activate like yours did."

"So what now?" I asked.

"Lucy, you have to understand. I can't fix this. There's nothing I can do."

"I got that. What I meant was, is there anything else you wanna test? Do you know what caused it? Am I in any danger of spontaneous combustion or something?"

Marlee smiled a little. "No you're not going to spontaneously explode or anything like that. The gene is just a mutation of the werewolf gene. There's nothing else I need to test right now." She checked her watch. "I'm gonna go back to the lab."

I nodded as she left. I took a deep breath and headed back into my meditation. I appeared in the same place I left, but Mei was gone.

_**Derek's POV**_

After Chloe and I decided what we were going to do about the Pack situation, Dad brought me outside to show me a bike they had picked up on the road. It needed a little work but it was nothing I couldn't handle.

A few hours passed before I finally finished with it. Exhausted, I headed inside for a drink. I walked in the door and found Simon carrying a semi-conscious Chloe. "What happened?" Her arm was at an awkward angle and there was a bruise beginning to form on Simon's cheek.

"We were talking in the library. I was gonna help her back to her room because Chloe said she wasn't feeling well. She stopped in the hall because she was having a hard time breathing and she was having muscle spasms in her back. And then all of a sudden her arm shot into my face and she collapsed. I figured you'd know what to do because I have no freaking clue." Simon said in a rush.

"She's in the middle of a change. We need to get her outside." I took Chloe in my arms and headed for the door. Simon followed. "Believe me, you don't wanna see this. Go find Marlee and tell her Chloe's shifting."

"Derek?"

I looked at Chloe. Her eyes were closed. I sat her down on the grass and took have a step back. Her hand shot out to grab my wrist. "Don't—don't go." She gasped out.

I swallowed and sat down beside her. "I'm not going anywhere." I wracked my brain, trying to think of ways that I could comfort her. I watched as her back arched, everything in her body rearranging at once.

Chloe emitted a scream that was interrupted by vomit forcing it's way up her throat. She clenched her jaws tight.

"Derek, Chloe?" I turned and saw Marlee halted about two feet behind me. "What can I do to help?"

I turned back to Chloe. "Have you ever seen a werewolf shift?" I asked her.

"I've seen documentaries… but in person, no."

"The first couple of times before completion aren't pretty. There's not much either of us can do anyway. You'd probably be better off keeping everybody calm and making sure everyone stays away from the windows." Marlee nodded in understanding. She took another glance at Chloe before running back towards the house.

I moved close to Chloe, who had fallen to her hands and feet. "Chloe, I'm gonna rip the back of your shirt open. You'll be more comfortable without your clothes." I heard Chloe try to respond, but another spasm hit her body and all she managed was a small nod. It was enough encouragement for me to continue.

I gripped the bottom of her shirt and pulled it, ripping the thin fabric with ease. I discarded the material to the side. Her shorts and undergarments had already been ripped apart due to her hips shifting to an inhuman angle. In the moonlight, I could see the bristles of blond fur sprouting from her skin.

Another wave hit Chloe's body and she let out a sound that was more animal than human. I rubbed the ridged muscles between her shoulder blades, hoping that would comfort her. I knew it was all I could do for her, and it killed me to not be able to do anything about it. Her breaths were shallow and ragged as the change came on wave by wave.

I don't know how long we sat like that. It seemed like hours. Chloe leaned against me, immense heat radiating off of her body. I tried to find something to talk about, something to distract her from the fear she must've been feeling. "At least we don't have Gill or any of those other whack jobs fifty feet away from your first shift." I heard Chloe let out a sound that sounded suspiciously similar to a laugh. I relaxed a little.

"I'm not good at this, am I?" Chloe didn't respond. "I just… need to be there for you the same way you were there for me during all of my shifts. Clearly, I suck at being comforting. But I need to try. Because it wouldn't be fair to you if I didn't." I felt Chloe's body tremble once more before she finally collapsed, naked in the moonlight.

I lay down next to her. Chloe tried to life her hand to my face but only made it half way before her arm collapsed against my shoulder. I paced my hand over hers. "If you ever doubt yourself while I'm in the middle of a shift again, I will make sure the first thing I do as a wolf is rip your throat out." Chloe gave a halfhearted smile. Her eyes shut and her hand went limp in mine.

"Chloe?" She didn't answer. I tried to keep calm and think rationally. There were many times that I passed out after a shift. I just had to keep calm. I lifted Chloe into my arms and headed back to the house. Marlee met me halfway with a blanked to conceal her.

"I'll check her when we get to your room. I've forced everyone into the kitchen to give you some privacy." Marlee said as we headed up the steps.

"She made a death threat and lost consciousness." It was all I could think about.

Marlee nodded. "She's not bleeding vaginally from what I can tell. As I said, I'll examine her and the twins thoroughly." She shut the door to our room as I set Chloe on the bed.

Marlee checked Chloe's pulse and breathing first. "Her breathing is a little shallow, but her pulse is strong. That's a good sign. I'll give her some oxygen in the mean time." There was an oxygen tank I hadn't noticed before next to the bed. Marlee must have brought her equipment up here to make sure she was ready after Chloe's shift. I watched as Marlee wrapped a clear tube under Chloe's nose and around her ears. She turned and twisted the valve on the tank and turned on the machine it was hooked up to.

Marlee lifted the blanket to get a better look at Chloe's nether regions. I stayed back behind the blanket. Marlee looked at me. "Why so tense? It's nothing you haven't seen before."

I struggled with my words. "It's a dignity thing. She's not even awake. Would you want someone looking at your vagina if you were unconscious? Even if it was your significant other?"

Marlee gave me a strange look. "I've never really thought about it." She thought for a moment. "I guess not."

"And that's why I've got no interest."

She laughed. "Derek, you're eighteen. You're lying to everyone including yourself if you're saying you've got no interest at this moment."

I fidgeted and felt my face heat. Marlee repositioned Chloe. "I've got enough restraint to respect her." I replied simply.

"That's a good talent. There's no vaginal bleeding at all, which signifies that Chloe's in no danger of a miscarriage. I can't do anything more until she's a little further along. I'm still going to do an ultrasound to make sure she doesn't have any internal uterine bleeding." I nodded.

"So, she looks good for the most part?" I asked.

Marlee nodded. "She looks as if the shift never happened." She pulled out a small rectangular device with a cord and transducer attached to it. "Portable sonogram machine. Very useful," She said, as I watched, fascinated. "The only flaw is you have to bring your own gel." She squirted a bit of the blue substance on Chloe's exposed abdomen and placed the transducer over it. A gray blur appeared on the screen before the two dark orbs we saw yesterday appeared.

"That's the twins, right?"

"Yup. We should have a couple of heartbeats in a few weeks." She moved the picture to the left and right in a couple different directions.

"What are you looking for?"

"Well, generally if there's internal bleeding, it will be indicated by black space in the screen. I'm not seeing anything other than the twins so I think we're out of the woods for now." She paused. "Wanna see something cool?"

"What?" I bent closer to the screen. Marlee focused the transducer back on the twins.

"See that little white spot in the middle of the two black circles?" I nodded. "Since the twins are werewolves, they're developing slightly faster than normal. Nothing too drastic that it off puts the human gestation period of forty weeks…" I blinked as she trailed off.

"Let me start this explanation over. Technically Chloe is about five and a half weeks pregnant. We calculate gestation start two weeks _before _conception. So while the twins have a fetal development of three weeks, Chloe is five weeks pregnant. Understand?" I nodded. "Typically a fetus won't have a heartbeat until six or seven weeks gestation, but as I said the twins are developing slightly faster than normal."

"So they've got a heartbeat?"

Marlee nodded. "I didn't want to get everybody's hopes up in case I was wrong yesterday. But I'm sure now." She fiddled with a setting on the contraption and the sound came on. We listened to each one for a few minutes before Chloe stirred in her sleep. "They've got good strong heartbeats." Marlee said, wiping the gel off of Chloe's abdomen.

I pulled the comforter over her. "Thank you." I said. Marlee nodded. Marlee removed the oxygen from Chloe's face and shut off the machine as well as the tank. I shut off the light as we walked out of the room. "That was cool, hearing the heartbeats."

"Aw! You got to hear heartbeats? That's not fair!" Simon was standing outside of the door with everyone else. I rolled my eyes. "What was so different from yesterday?" He continued.

"I didn't have the sound on. Got a problem with that?" Marlee asked.

"Yes," Simon mumbled.

"How is she?" Scott asked.

"Chloe and the twins are fine. She's sleeping and I expect none of you to bother her." Marlee replied.

I pulled dad aside. "I'm leaving." I said.

His face blanked. "You're leaving? After hearing your babies' heartbeats, you're leaving? Seriously?"

I almost laughed. Almost. "That's not what I meant. I got the bike up and running before Chloe started her shift. I'm taking to Syracuse and I'm going to seek out the Pack. I figure I'll go alone first and I'll be back in about a week with news of their decision." I said.

"You're sure about this?" I nodded.

Dad sighed. "Alright,"

The group in front of our room had finally dispersed and I gathered some necessities into back pack and left a note on the bedside table for Chloe. I looked at her sleeping form and gently laid a hand on her abdomen, kneeling. I smiled to myself before kissing Chloe's lips. "I love you," I stood and shut the door quietly on my way out.

**/AN: Chloe's first shift! :D I toned up the details a bit—as best I could. I hope you guys like it! As usual, please review! Thanks. -Kit./**


	11. The Pack Part 1

_**/AN: THANK ALL THAT IS GOOD AND HOLY: I'm back. :) lol. Okay so I'm going to address a few things. There were a couple of reviewers that I'd like to reply to.**_

_**The Shadowhunter: Hi :) I'd like to thank you for all of the reviews you sent! I know I need to be a little better with the details, so I hope I pulled through with all of my edits and this chapter. PS. The flashbacks were needed. :P lol**_

_**Guest #1: If Chloe's mom died in a hit and run, then I must've missed that fact... or maybe it's just in the second trilogy that I have yet to read. . Anyway, thanks for the feed back. Since it's a fanfiction how ever, I don't think it matters if I stray from the minor facts a bit. Cuz I also changed Chloe's parent's names too. Along with a whole bunch of other minor details.**_

_**Guest #2: Thanks!**_

_**Um, if there's anyone else that I missed, I apologize. I promise I didn't miss you on purpose. If you guys sign in and leave a review, I ALWAYS respond. If you leave a review as a guest, this is the only way I know of to respond to you.**_

_**In other news, I've had a LOT of personal things happen in the last few months, but I promise, I'm getting back in the game.**_

_**IMPORTANT: I also did some minor editing and detail adding to ALL of the chapters. Nothing major. Bear with me guys as this IS a work in progress. So go back and read what I did, I promise, you won't be disappointed.**_

_**With out further ado: Chapter 11: The Pack**_

_**Disclaimer: I own the Alphas... The Pack and everything else goes to Kelley Armstrong./**_

_**Derek's POV**_

I walked out of the house fully intent on getting to the Pack and getting back. I didn't want to be out any longer than I had to.

"Hey, I need to talk to you." Dylan grabbed my arm.

"Make it quick, I've gotta go." I told him, grabbing my keys from where they laid on the floor.

Dylan released my arm. "That's kind of what I gotta talk to you about. I'm going with you."

I looked at him in disbelief. "The plan was to go alone." I headed out the door.

"Well, plans change. I've got a bike laying hidden in the woods, so all I'd have to do is follow you." Dylan tried to reason.

I rolled my eyes. "The answer is still no."

"Why not? I can be helpful!" He raised his voice.

"Many reasons actually. I don't have time to continue arguing with you. You're not going." I responded.

"If you had two minutes to argue with me, then you have two minutes to tell me why you don't want me going with you." Dylan folded his arms.

I looked at him. God damn, he was stubborn. I sighed. "I just met you. I don't trust you. And even though I _really _don't want you around Chloe, I know if you try anything Simon and Mason will kick your sorry ass bloody. There's also the fact that you keep insulting me, and I don't really care but the fact that you think you _can _insult me without consequences really pisses me off. In fact, your entire attitude pisses me off. You're arrogant, and entitled. I would rather spend eight days with Mason than with you and that's saying something." He looked unfazed. "Are we done here?"

"Boys! What's going on?" Dad came up next to us. Great. Just what I needed.

"Nothing. We're done here." I turned to leave again.

"Derek. Stay." I turned around. Damn it. "I'm gonna ask one more time. And I want a straight answer this time." Dad turned to Dylan. "Dylan. What. Is. Going. On?"

"I want to go to the Pack with Derek. Derek's too much of a stubborn ass to realize he shouldn't go alone and refuses to let me tag along even though I have my own ride." Dylan said.

"Oh, is that all? I think it's a good idea. It'll give Derek some back up and both of you some time to get to know each other. Make it happen." Dad started to walk away.

"I'm eighteen! I can do what I want!" I called.

Dad turned to face me. "As long as you are part of this team, you follow my orders. No exceptions. I don't care if you're fifty three. Dylan, you're on the mission. Derek, deal with it." He left.

I turned to Dylan. "Get your shit and let's go."

_**Dylan's POV**_

Okay. So that probably could've gone over better. And I probably could've been nicer. Let's be honest, the guy had it coming. But if I wanted to make it in this group, I needed to be nicer.

I tramped across the frost covered yard. I heard the engine of Derek's bike start from across the lawn as I entered the woods.

I wracked my brain to figure out ways I could make the situation better as I closed in on my bike. Thinking of none, I picked up the bike and walked it out of the woods.

Derek sped off before I could get on my bike. I shoved my helmet on and started the motorcycle, following Derek down the drive.

_**Chloe's POV**_

I awoke to blinding light shining in my face. I groaned and rolled over, never opening my eyes. "Derek, you left the curtains open again," I said, tugging the covers over my face. He didn't answer. "Derek?" I sat up and looked around realizing for the first time that I was alone in our room, painfully aware of my nakedness. Finally, the memories came rushing back.

"I had my first shift…" But then where was Derek?

I shut the curtain, the bright light of the sun causing a migraine. I sat on the bed, as the memories of yesterday slowly returned. Suddenly, a slip of paper on the bed side table caught my eye. The handwriting was Derek's borderline messy scrawl. It was addressed to me. I flipped it open and began reading.

He was in so much trouble when he got home.

_**Derek's POV**_

Dylan and I had been on the road for two days before we finally passed into New York and it took another two days to get to Syracuse. It was dark by the time we pulled into the gas station. It was mostly empty except for a couple of guys hanging out off to the side, speaking in hushed tones.

I put the bike in park and tugged off my helmet. Dylan pulled up beside me, removing his helmet from his head. "Dude, go home. I don't need you, and I don't want your help."

"Make me."

I rolled my eyes. As infuriating as Dylan was, I had a job to do.

"Look, you don't have to like me. But you do have to tolerate me." Dylan replied.

I sighed and looked at the map, ignoring him. From what Dad told me, the Pack was located on a nature reserve a few miles away.

From the gas station, I headed down the street, Dylan tagging along behind me. The nights were frigged now, but the cold air felt amazing against the heat of my skin. For what seemed like the millionth time, I thought about Chloe and how she was doing. I shook the thought from my mind and focused on the road. The last thing I wanted was to end up road kill.

Finally we came up on the entrance of the park. A guard pulled us over. "Hey kids, what business do you have hangin' around this late?" he asked, looking between the two of us. I weighed my options. I could either out run him, which wouldn't be hard, or I could be nice and answer him. I'd try nice Derek first. No need to make a scene.

"I'm here to see the Alphas. It's kind of urgent." I said simply.

"_We're_ here to see the Alphas." Dylan corrected. Again, I ignored Dylan.

The guard didn't answer for a minute. Finally, he sighed and said, "I've gotta check you for weapons before I escort you in. It's protocol." I nodded and handed him my backpack as he waved the metal detector over the outline of my body. He moved to Dylan. "You're clean." He paused.

"You got any ID? Miles will be furious that he's been woken up so early. I don't wanna tell him I've got no idea who you are either." The guard continued.

"Dylan Mungovan." Dylan dorkily handed over a driver's license. I resisted the urge to roll my eyes again. I mean, really? Nice way to get kidnapped. Amateur. The guard returned Dylan's ID.

"Derek Souza. No ID on me. Is that all? Like I said, I'm kind of in a hurry." The guy's eyes widened.

"You said 'Souza'?" he laughed a little. "Oh, they're gonna _love _this." I gave him an odd look.

The guard turned to Dylan. "You're going to have to evacuate the premises."

Dylan rolled his eyes. "Of course…"

I shoved a scrap of paper into Dylan's hand. "That's my number. I'll call you when I'm done." I smirked and followed the guard through the gates. It's nice to get what you want.

After walking down a few streets in silence, the guard went up to a dark house. It took a few minutes for someone to answer the door. They spoke low, and I strained to hear what they were saying.

"What do you want, David?"

"You're never gonna believe who appeared in front of our gates tonight." The guard, apparently named David, said.

"I swear to god, David, if this is another one of your jokes, I will personally kill you myself." The man in the house replied.

"He said his name was Derek Souza — _Souza_ — and he was looking to discuss something urgent with the 'Alphas'."

The other guy stayed silent for a while. "You're sure he said, 'Souza'?" The guard nodded. "Have him wait a minute."

David walked back to where I was standing at the edge of the drive. "It'll be a few minutes." He said. I leaned against the bike. When you've been on the run as long as I have, you learn to sleep where you can.

It felt like seconds before I heard footsteps approaching. "You do realize how dangerous it is to wander into Pack territory alone, right?" The guy standing in front of me was in his mid thirties at least and dressed in a dark t-shirt and sweat pants.

"I'm well aware. It's not everyday you hear rumors of people taking chainsaws to trespassers." I replied.

He smirked and extended a hand. "Miles Hollis." I hated pleasantries, but I had learned to function normally in society. I shook his hand, regardless of my slight annoyance.

"You're welcome to come inside. I promise we don't bite as much as everyone says we do. At least not to you." He turned, not waiting to hear my response.

I followed. "Is anyone gonna tell me why my name isn't surprising or are we going to keep pretending that you don't know who I am?"

"Caught on to that did you? Growing up with Kit, I'm not surprised if nothing gets by you." Miles said, holding the door open for me. I entered the house. The only light was coming from the fireplace. David went back to his post at the gates.

"You know my dad?" I asked, not really surprised.

"And Andrew, and I know your father as well." He glanced at my face and caught my expression. A mixture of shock and uncertainty has creeped it's way across my features. "But I have a feeling that isn't what you're here to talk about."

"Andrew died, a few years ago." I blurted. Ugh. Chloe had grown on me.

"I'm aware of that. It's unfortunate. That was also the last time any of us here in the Pack had any idea about your whereabouts." Miles replied.

"You've been tracking me?"

Miles nodded, walking over and sitting on a couch in the middle of the den. "We were. Andrew was trying to convince Kit to let you spend summers with the Pack. We take special interest in those who've been corrupted by the evils of Edison Group. We find they need more guidance than most, a gentler hand with a firmer grip." He looked at me as I stood awkwardly in the doorway. "Come sit. You've been traveling for a long while and don't try and say you haven't." I hesitated but obeyed.

"Andrew didn't say it would have been just summers. He was basically telling my Dad that he had to drop me off and never speak to me again." I explained. "And it wasn't misinterpretation. Photographic memory. I remember everything."

"Ah, that's where things went wrong. Andrew… well, Andrew felt you would be better off if Kit just left you with us. We felt that things weren't so simple. You were a child, you wouldn't have understood. Kit and Simon were — are — your family. We respected that. I think if Kit had known that, he would've considered it." I didn't respond. "But as I said, that's not why you're here."

"You should know that over the years our group has grown. And if you can't help all of us, I'd rather take my chances on the run." Miles nodded.

"My girlfriend — mate — is pregnant with twins. About six weeks along now. She's a necromancer and a transitioning werewolf. The Edison Group nearly killed her a few weeks ago. They're viewing her as a threat. Generally we'd run, but a new member of our group mentioned that because you already wanted to monitor me more closely that maybe you'd give us some protection.

We had two options. We either run and take our chances, which are slim as it is, or beg for you and the rest of the pack to take us in." I said.

"I'm guessing Dylan is your new member. And little Chloe Saunders is the girl you're speaking of." I nodded. "I met her once, briefly after her mother died. I was working undercover then. The medical term for what she's experiencing — the mateship poisoning as it's referred to — is called Sodalis Vitae Lycanthropy. It roughly translates to 'life companion' lycanthropy. It's extremely rare, and seeing as how your mate also happens to be a necromancer, I can see why the Edison Group wants her dead. As for Dylan, Marigold will be pleased to hear he found you."

"Marigold is here?"

"She volunteers a lot around the reserve. She also serves as a midwife." Miles explained. "How many of you are there?"

"Nine. My dad, Marlee Hasich: a shaman, Mason and Lucy: my younger siblings, Simon and his sister Tori Enright, Chloe and Dylan, and as far as I know, Chloe's dad is still with them. You should know also that the Edison Group attack wasn't the only attempt on Chloe's life. Her aunt, Lauren Saunders stabbed her with a scalpel four days ago." I said.

"You found Mason and Lucy?" Miles asked. I nodded. "They were put into the system as babies and we never found them again."

"It was by complete accident, believe me." I wiped a hand down my face. Mason had been a pain in my ass ever since.

"You have our protection. But I don't advise that you bring everyone at once. You'll stay the night here, and head back in the morning. You'll need to bring Chloe here as soon as possible. Being so young, we'll need to check her over, although I presume your shaman has done her best, these are werewolf pups and no one understands how they work better than other werewolves." I nodded in understanding.

Miles continued. "By the time you get here, we'll have housing set up for you and Chloe and then housing set up for the rest of your group. Kit and the rest of them will follow two days later. Understand?" I nodded again. "Stay here."

Miles left the room and returned with a spare pillow and blanket. "Now if you don't mind, I'm going to rejoin my wife and sleep." He disappeared up the steps.

I think I was asleep as soon as my head hit the pillow.

_**Chloe's POV**_

It had been twelve hours since Derek had been gone and I was furious. "I hope he wrecks that stupid bike." I told Simon, grumpily. I had been pacing angrily across the room for at least ten minutes.

He chuckled. "You've been saying that all day. I'm starting to think you really do want him to end up a skid mark on the road."

"Good. If he thinks he can just check in and out whenever he wants, he's got another thing coming!" Simon shook his head. "And you! You think I'm overreacting!" He looked like a deer caught in headlights.

He held up his hands in surrender. "No, not at all. 'Overreact' is such a… strong word. I don't think it's one I would personally use. I think your blood pressure may be a tad bit too high. And you're probably gonna wear a hole in the floor, though I'm sure Marlee won't mind. But she might mind if you fall through the floor." I rolled my eyes and sat on the edge of the bed in defeat. I shoved my face in my hands.

"I'm going to kill him, Simon…" I looked up. "I gotta pee first." I mumbled, heading to the bathroom.

Simon laughed. "I'm enjoying pregnant Chloe. Pregnant Chloe is entertaining." I flipped him the bird. "Not that you weren't entertaining before…"

When I exited the bathroom a few minutes later, I walked out of the room. "I'm going for a hot chocolate from Starbucks. You coming with?" I asked him.

Simon stood and stretched. "Yeah. I'm inviting Lucy this time, though. She pitched a fit last time." He smiled fondly.

"It was four in the morning last time. What did she want us to do? Wake her up?" I smiled.

"Guess so. I'll make it quick." Simon left to go track down Lucy.

I don't know if it was because it was so late or if I was just pissed off, or maybe it was just pregnancy hormones, but I had really bad feeling… something was going to go wrong. I didn't know when… but it was going to happen. I just hoped it had nothing to do with the twins or Derek.

Lucy looped her arm through mine. "Ready?" She asked.

"I was born ready."

Simon, Lucy and I walked down the steps and into the main hall. "Where is everyone?" I asked, noticing the silence in the house.

"I think they're all out playing basketball or something." Lucy replied.

I looked to Simon. "You got the Barretta?"

He nodded.

Lucy was right. With Dad as a referee, Marlee, Kit, Mason, and Tori were playing a two on two game of basketball. Marlee called a time and walked over. "You're stressing. Why are you stressing? You know you shouldn't be stressing."

"My mate is AWOL, my brother is missing and I'm seventeen and pregnant. I have every right to stress out." I looked at Marlee's face and softened my tone. "And I have every right to a hot chocolate from Starbucks?"

"You know, Dylan isn't really missing. He's with Derek." Simon said, from a few feet away.

"Simon and Lucy going with you?" Marlee asked.

"Yes. And Simon's got the Barretta." I replied.

"Fine. Be back in two hours." Marlee said, leaving to return to her game.

The hair on the back of my neck prickled. Something was wrong. Something was very wrong.

Suddenly, a gun shot was fired. Chaos ensued and time stopped. Simon clutched his shoulder and shoved me forward to the woods. We ran.

"TAKE COVER!" I heard Marlee's voice following us from behind.

Our group scattered as more gun shots were fired.

_**Mason's POV**_

I clutched my screaming side, and ran towards the barn, ignoring the pain. The car, I had to get to the car. I flattened myself against the side of the old wooden structure, listening to my surroundings.

"You missed her? How the fuck could you miss her? You're using a freaking sniper rifle! You fucking dumb ass! Boss is gonna have our asses for this!" A gruff voice said.

"She's tiny and pregnant, how far could she have gone? We'll find her."

Chloe.

I had to find Derek. I searched my pockets. I pulled out my cell phone and dialed his number.

"_Hey this is Derek. Leave a message." _Damn it, straight to voice mail. What the fuck was he doing that was so insanely important that he couldn't charge his damn phone? I shoved my phone back in my pocket, angry and annoyed.

I moved to the entrance of the barn slowly and quietly, attempting to avoid attention. I had recently decided that bullets suck ass.

Successfully making it into the barn, I opened the door to an old Honda and shoved the keys into the ignition. Lucky Marlee kept spares in all of the glove boxes.

I stomped on the gas.

_**Derek's POV**_

When I opened my eyes the next morning, there was an old woman standing about two inches from my face. I jumped up. "Holy hell,"

I heard Miles laugh from the next room over. "He's alive, alright." The woman yelled over her shoulder. "Get up lazy bones, time to eat." I sat up further.

"Not to be rude or anything, but who are you?" I asked, pulling my socks back on.

"Photographic memory my ass, Miles. Boy has no clue who I am. I gave the kid my son's pants for crying out loud!" She began walking into what I assumed was the kitchen.

I could swear a light bulb popped up over my head. "Marigold?" She stopped in her tracks and turned to look at me.

"Took you long enough." She continued into the kitchen. I followed.

Dylan was sitting next to Miles who was tending to a stack of important looking documents. A woman, who I assumed was Miles's wife, stood at the stove cooking.

"Um… thanks, for letting me crash on your couch. I should really get back to Chloe though. It's a four day trip back to our… um… base." I felt something thwack against the side of my head. I looked to see Marigold holding a rolled up newspaper. Dylan choked on his toast, laughing.

I hope he died.

"Sit and eat. Chloe has all of those people there to protect her, she'll there when you get back. You need your strength. Filling up on granola bars and chips," I dodged another thwack to the head. "What the hell is the matter with you?"

Dylan continued laughing. "And you, young man. I raised you better than that! Bickering nonstop, _letting _Derek fill up on junk. You had better be lucky it's not _you _I'm smacking with a newspaper." Marigold scolded. Dylan looked slightly terrified.

I didn't know how to respond.

"That reminds me. How did you even get in? I thought that guard told you to get lost?" Another hit with the newspaper. "Seriously? What is it with you people and hitting?"

"You wouldn't get hit if you managed to be respectful." Dylan mumbled. Marigold glared a warning. "Anyway, I just called Marigold and got a free pass in. You should've known I wasn't going to leave that easily."

"Alright. Jeez it's like having a bunch of five year olds." Miles said.

The woman at the stove turned and placed plates of food in front of us. "Marigold is right. You boys need to eat. Being Alpha female automatically makes me the All Mother. It would be irresponsible of me to send you off without a good meal. Now do as Marigold says before I start hitting you with something harder than a rolled up newspaper." She said, swinging the spatula at me. I sat in the chair. "My name is Gemma by the way."

Gemma sat down a few minutes later and I got better look at her. Her hair was a chestnut brown color and she looked about the same age as Miles.

"So I heard Chloe was stabbed with a scalpel a few days ago?" Gemma asked.

"Yeah." It still kinda pissed me off to think about it. And it terrified me to think about what I could've lost.

"Doesn't talk much does he?" Marigold mumbled.

Dylan smirked.

"How are her and the twins doing after such a traumatic event?" Gemma continued.

"They're fine. Better now, I expect. She had just had her first shift before I left." I replied.

"She's progressing fairly well then?" Miles asked.

I nodded.

After eating my weight in breakfast we headed out. "We'll see you back in a few days then?" Gemma asked hugging me. I resisted the urge to cringe away from her.

"That's the plan." I replied, thankful to be leaving for home.

"I'll walk them to the gates and be back shortly to discuss some things." Marigold said.

We walked to the entrance of the reserve in silence. David was still there, talking to someone.

"I'm sorry, I can't let you in. But I could call a cab for you or something. Maybe an ambulance?"

"No! No, I can't leave. Please, I have to talk to Derek—something's happen—"

"I said no!"

That voice… "Mason?" I ran forward to look around David.

Mason looked like hell. He was pale and sweaty, his hair was damp and clinging to his forehead. "Oh god, what the fuck happened?" I knelt down to his level. The panic I felt was overwhelming.

"There was an ambush—we scattered." Mason gasped in air, his eyes rolling to the back of his head.

"Come on man, stay with me. What happened? Where's Chloe?" I asked, shaking him.

Mason cracked his eyes opened a little. "Simon took her and ran… I grabbed the car. I… I don't know what happened—after that." I didn't get any more from him.

Marigold had knelt down beside us. She removed his hand from his side and lifted his bloodied shirt. "Oh dear…" It was a deep graze wound that looked badly infected. "This is your brother?" Marigold asked.

"Yes." I replied. What had happened that was so bad he couldn't stitch himself up before coming to find me?

"Help me get him to the infirmary. He needs _immediate _attention." Marigold replied.

With Dylan's help, we dragged Mason to a building somewhere near the middle of the compound. For the first time, I noticed Dylan's silence. I looked at him. "Are you okay?"

Dylan barely looked at me. "Just worried. I mean, maybe you were right. Maybe I should've stayed at base."

The last thing I needed was a sappy, panicked, blubbering idiot on my hands. And yet, I kinda felt sorry for him. He wasn't used to the constant battle of cat and mouse like I was.

"Hey don't go second guessing yourself. There's nothing either of us could've done to prevent an ambush. Mason said that Chloe is with Simon, so I have hope. I need more information, so we have to make sure that Mason gets better. We'll find Chloe and the others." I said.

We had to.

_**/AN: Don't I just suck? I'm starting Chapter 12 in the morning... but y'all know not to trust me with dates. XD As always, review please! -Kit**_


End file.
